Leaves and Lightnings
by xKUNOICHIx
Summary: Naruto often helps out people he knows nothing about - and he's often right. But when he helps out a murderer with a price on her head and brings her to Konoha, is he actually doing the wrong thing for once? ::No mary-sue:: --CHAPTER 10 UP!--
1. Chapter 1: Run!

**Author's Notes:**

_First of all - do keep in mind that English is not my first language. I live in Denmark and my English is pretty much self-taught. But if you do find any mistakes, I'd appreciate it if you gave me a heads-up, and I'll try and correct it. :)_

_Well, on to the story itself:_ _I first wrote out this story 2 years ago, and it's been an ongoing project since then – one that's been a lot of fun and that I never stopped working on. I've been asked if I was going to publish it on any webpage, but I've always said "no – this is something I write for __**me**__." – but I realized that this project – in my eyes – deserves my motivation. And what's more motivating than having other people read and judge your work? So here it is. :)_

_I've written 10+ chapters so far. And though it contains an Original Character, there's no romance in this story as such. The character and Naruto's relationship does develop and will be completely different by the end of the story than it is in the beginning, but I'll leave it up to the reader to decide whether they're couple-material or not (though they __**are**__ a couple in my head). The character was never intended to be a "Mary Sue", so if you do find her too Mary Sue-ish, please, do speak up._

_Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy._

_-Janni Pedersen._

--

**Copyrights: **

Naruto, franchise and related characters © Masashi Kishimoto

Kita, Yuunai family, Kei, Iwahara, Saito and related characters © Janni Pedersen

--

**NOTES:**

Words and symbols that may appear in the following chapter and which may need an explanation.

"**Y'know"**** (said by Naruto)**: _My "interpretation" of Naruto's catchphrase, "dattebayo". I REFUSE TO USE "BELIEVE IT!" . :C :C  
_

**Italic only**_ indicates thoughts/thinking, which is not said out loud. **Italic and bold **indicate words that are put extra stress on.  
_

**Konohagakure: **_Hidden Leaf Village._

**Kumogakure: **_Hidden Cloud Village. Kumogakure is located in the Country of Lightning._

* * *

**Lea****ves and Lightnings.**

* * *

Chapter 1.

"She killed him! She must have!"

"Oh god…"

"It's Yuunai again! It must've been!"

"Shh… she's over there!"

Voices, coming from everywhere… the stabbing, throbbing pain in her head… the coldness of the concrete.

These were the first things she noticed when she started waking up. She winced in pain as she slowly sat up and opened her eyes… and despite the pain of light sensitivity, they immediately snapped wide open. A group had gathered around her, and as she sat up and faced them, she noticed… _**them**_ - those cold eyes she knew so well… just a thousand times worse now. She stumbled to her feet.

"This has gone too far!" a voice suddenly roared - a rather large man suddenly lunged forwards, and the girl flinched, preparing for the blow…

"Iwahara-san, it's no use!"

Another voice broke in, making her eyes snap open again – another guy had stepped in, and was now holding back the large man from before – whom she now recognized as the village blacksmith.

"We need to address her parents…" the man who had broken in spoke calmly, looking the blacksmith right in the eye, "that's the standard procedure. You know that."

"A man died this time around! There's nothing 'standard' about that!" the blacksmith roared, ripping his arm out of the other man's grip and pointed at the girl, "we can't let this… _thing _hurt anymore people!"

The girl stepped back. Her breath caught… _**died**_… had she _killed_ someone?! Her hand involuntarily flew to her mouth.

"Don't look so surprised, brat!" the blacksmith suddenly lunged forwards again, and before the girl or the other man got to react this time around, the blacksmith had grabbed her by the collar of her shirt, lifting her up to his eye-level, "it was only a question of time before you'd do it, wasn't it?! Ever since you were born, you've been hurting people like this! And now… _**this**_?!" he turned around, roughly pushing his way through the circle of villagers. He then pointed towards a wall near the end of the small alley, turning the girl around by the collar as well, forcing her to look.

Her eyes once again grew wide in horror… a man laid by the wall. Soaked in his own blood. His eyes were bloodshot, and his mouth, frozen in a silent scream. She tried to talk, but no sound came out. She recognized him- She shook her head, as if she was trying to shake this off… hoping this was a bad dream and that she'd wake up.

"Ibaraki… san…"

"You did this!" the blacksmith snarled. She flinched at his words…

Then, it was true… _it_ had happened again… and this time, she had actually killed someone…

"No…" her voice was nothing but a small, weak whisper. She shook her head again, "no…"

"YOU DID THIS!" the blacksmith repeated, yelling, "don't try and deny it!! We saw you!" he threw her onto the ground, making her slide across the wet concrete before he walked over to her, glaring down at her with his eyes, narrowed.

"Run." He hissed, "go home! You're gonna pay this time around, Yuunai..!"

The girl looked around the dark alley… the other villagers had gathered behind the blacksmith, still glaring at her. She tried to speak, but once again, she couldn't get a single word past her lips… she slowly got to her feet.

Then, started running…

The blacksmith kept looking in her direction - even after she was out of sight. Letting out a sigh, he turned to the remainder of the group, still with his eyes narrowed.

"It has gone too far…" he growled, "notify Raikage-sama and the elders… we need to do something about this."

**xxx**

** xxx**

"A mission?! _**FINALLY**_!"

The ANBU sighed heavily, covering his face with a hand, seemingly embarrassed at the energetic blonde teenager's eagerness.

"Naruto…" he muttered, "it's just an escort mission. A simple one at that… it's only a C-rank! And with Sakura and Sai joining us, I'd almost classify it as a D-"

"But it's a mission!" Naruto grinned broadly, "it's been way too quiet lately, y'know!"

"I suggest you notify the rest of your team and you guys start preparing… We're leaving in three days!" Yamato crumbled the piece of paper, which had previously been wrapped around the now eaten onigiris, "lunch break is over. Let's get back to training."

"But Yamato-taichou!" Naruto whined, with a familiar fox pout spreading on his face, "we've been training for five hours straight, y'know! Can't we call it a day?!"

Yamato got to his feet, looking the blonde teenager over for a moment.

But an almost wicked grin then spread on his face.

"You said it's been too quiet. You should know by now that that just means something big is coming up." His grin grew, "and that's what we have to be ready for! Let's spar."

Naruto stared at him, perplexed for a moment. As a chuunin, sparring with an ANBU would hardly be considered fair. Normally, that is. A determined smile spread on his face. To hell with normal! _**He**_ wasn't normal!

He got to his feet and adjusted his forehead protector while he kept his piercing blue eyes on his teacher.

"Got it!" his smile widened, turning into a grin, "you're gonna regret saying that!"

**xxx**

** xxx**

"You've got to hurry! We have to leave! Now! Pack only the essentials… no fooling around, Kita!"

Her mother shoved the backpack into her arms, roughly. She didn't even looking at her.

"Hurry up, for goodness sake, child..!"

The girl quickly nodded- she turned on her heel, and ran off, towards her room…

When she had returned home and tried to tell her parents what happened, hell had immediately broken loose… her parents didn't waste any time. They wouldn't be able to take a lot with them… but seeing the expression on her parents' faces, she knew they had to get out of Kumogakure - as fast as possible.

When she got into her room, she started grabbing everything she could reach, stuffing it into the backpack. She was practically hyperventilating, swearing under her breath as she packed.

"Shit… shit… _**shit**_..!"

_What have I done?!_ She thought to herself, in between the swearing, _what the hell have I done?!_

A scream suddenly tore her mind back to reality. A loud crash followed… she heard yelling, more screaming, and then… smelled it. The room quickly started filling up with smoke. She turned on her heel and ran out into the hallway, sprinting down towards the living room…

She could've sworn that her heart ceased to beat…

A group of villagers had gathered there, some of them, now in close combat with her parents. The rest were setting fire to the room with torches.

Her mother turned her head a little, noticing her instantly while still holding up the enraged shinobi she was fighting.

"Kita!" she screamed, "get out of here!! NOW!"

The shinobis turned too, noticing her… she stood, frozen for a moment… it was like everything moved in slow motion… the men that were fighting her parents tried to get past them, yelling. Her father turned his head, glaring right into her eyes.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" he yelled, "we'll hold them back! Just run! Don't look back, Kita!"

She snapped back into reality. She wanted to stay and fight with her parents, but her body disobeyed her- instead, she suddenly set into motion – running. Back to her room…

She just barely got to grab the backpack as she jumped out the window, landing on the small lawn in front of it.

"KEI!" she screamed, her voice, shrill.

A neigh immediately tore through the noise as a reply, and a black horse came racing towards her, around the corner of the house. She didn't waste any time, but jumped onto the back of the horse, burying her heels in his flanks, making him set off into a wild canter with a scream.

She heard the yells behind her… the crackling from the burning house. She turned her head, just in time to see the rest of the villagers in the house, racing outside. Then a crash… the house started collapsing…

A scream tore through the air, and her heart skipped several beats. She almost fell off the horse… she turned around, quickly, fighting the vomiting sensation and a sudden darkness that threatened to engulf her body… she clenched her eyes shut…

_Mom… forgive me_

She couldn't stop. Her eyes turned distant as she kept urging the horse onwards, her teeth clenched.

"Please_…_ forgive me…"

**xxx**

** xxx**

The elderly man had his eyes closed, a deep frown creasing his already wrinkled face. His hands were folded in front of his face, his elbows, resting on his desk…

The men – two men, even older than him - in front of him were sitting on their knees, on the tatami mats, looking at him, intensely – as if they were watching his every movement. His every breath.

"So…" he finally spoke up. Despite his age, his voice seemed strong; "she killed someone…" He opened his eyes, looking the two men over. One of them nodded.

"Ibaraki Masao, Raikage-sama…" one of the two Elders replied, "apparently, she had no connection to him… he was a teacher in the shinobi academy."

"Of course… She doesn't have any connection to anybody, Morita-san…"

"Raikage-sama!" the second man, who had remained silent until now, spoke up, "we must do something about this! It's not the first time she has had one of these seizures, and with all due respect… it has gone too far now…"

"I know…" the Raikage looked at him, frowning again, "I agree, Kimura-san…"

"That has already been taken care of, Raikage-sama." A third voice suddenly broke in, and all three men - as well as the two guards turned - puzzled. Iwahara, the blacksmith, was standing in the door, bowing as the Raikage looked at him.

"Iwahara…" the Kage lifted an eyebrow slightly, "what do you mean?"

Iwahara looked up from his bow. His eyes, still cold from rage.

"A group of shinobi gathered at the Yuunai residence." He replied, "they just wanted to evict and expel the family, but it went too far and they set fire to the house."

His voice was as cold as his eyes. He showed no remorse, "the girl ran off. But her parents- Yuunai Tasou and Ayako- died in the flames…"

The Raikage promptly got to his feet, gritting his teeth.

"Iwahara! That's an outrage! Those were innocent people!"

The blacksmith seemingly ignored the Raikage's critique.

"So was Ibaraki…" he almost muttered this, "The people demand for the girl to be assassinated too. They're arranging hunter-nins to be sent after her."

"They cannot do so without my permission!" the Raikage seemed pretty close to enraged, "how dare you?!"

"With all due respect, Raikage-sama…" Morita – one of the two Elders - spoke up again, turning the Raikage's attention back to him, "this girl is dangerous. She has no control of these seizures…"

The Raikage practically glared at the Elder for a few seconds. But gradually, he seemed to calm down a little – a frown still remained on his face however.

"The only reasonable thing would be to expose of her." Iwahara's voice was still cold; "As Raikage-sama knows, I have served this village loyally for more than thirty years. I will happily take care of this unfortunate case."

"But-"

"Raikage-sama! We must do this! Everyone already voted in favor of getting rid of this girl and her family years ago! We cannot procrastinate any longer!" Iwahara cut the Raikage off, "and we cannot let her bring trouble to other villages either! She's dangerous! She's a _**murderer**_!"

The Raikage fell quiet. His creased, old and worn face seemed to get even more wrinkles as he concentrated.

"Please, Raikage-sama…" Kimura joined the conversation again, "we must take action…"

The old man closed his eyes for a moment. Then, let out a sigh, and turned to Iwahara.

"Very well…" he rubbed his face, "but make it quick. And painless."

Iwahara looked at the old man, silently, for several seconds. Then, bowed – deeply.

"Certainly, Raikage-sama."

He turned and left – and once the door was closed to the Raikage's office, a small smile started appearing on his face as he walked down the hallways.

"Finally." His smile grew, "Yuunai will no longer be a problem!"

He paced up, hurrying down the hallway. Had the Raikage actually known his intentions and involvement in this, he would've stopped Iwahara on the spot.

But the Raikage didn't – and it had just cost two people their lives – and a third was on the line…

**xxx**

** xxx**

The horse was still cantering, and the girl, still holding on for dear life. Tears were running down her face, and her eyes were still distant as she and the horse moved through the bushlands, at breakneck speed. She didn't know where to run. She didn't know where to stop. But they had to keep moving. They'd soon cross the border. Into unknown territory… but they had to keep running…

She wasn't stupid – her parents were most likely dead. And her mind screamed at her to just stop the horse and wait for someone to close in on her – to end her life as well. But her body refused to cooperate. A small fraction of her brain remained in control – the part that wanted her to keep going.

The part that believed that even though someone _**was**_ chasing her – that even though she had no where to go and no place to hide – she could still make it. Somehow.

And she knew that _**that**_ was what her parents died for – for her to go on. _**That's**_ what they wanted her to do.

So she didn't ask any questions. She didn't bother thinking. She just let the horse run and the tears flow. Let her mind empty itself and go numb.

It was the only thing that made all this doable, after all. The numbness…

So she welcomed it.

**xxx**

**xxx**

Iwahara bowed deeply as the shinobi stepped into the room.

He was tall. Muscular. He was in a black metal armor, and a black mask was covering the bottom half of his face, up to the top of his nose. His eyes were black, his hair was black… everything was black apart from his ivory, scarred skin, which made him look almost surreal.

He looked Iwahara over, coldly. The blacksmith involuntarily shivered. Those eyes had no respect for life – be it the one he was hired to end, or Iwahara's. And it showed.

"Sehomara-sama… I'm glad you could make it…" Iwahara's voice was prone- the mere presence of this shinobi was making him tremble.

Sehomara however seemed to pay no attention to his welcome.

"My mission." He demanded. Iwahara flinched at his deep and coarse voice.

"You know of the Yuunai girl, I presume…"

Sehomara just gave him a small nod.

"Her family has now been killed and she has fled the village. She's heading towards the Country of Fire, it seems. The Raikage has demanded that she too is exposed of."

Sehomara narrowed his eyes.

"You're sending me after a teenage girl…" it wasn't a question, but a statement.

"We apologize if it's an inconvenience, Sehomara-sama…. We-"

"Stop your idiotic babbling." Sehomara turned to him, making him flinch once more, "I've heard about this Yuunai girl, yes. It should be interesting…" he suddenly smiled under his mask, "I take it I'll get a few shinobi to accompany me?"

"W-why yes!" Iwahara's voice was now trembling, "as many as you want…"

"Fine. Assign a good scout and six chuunins. That's all I'll need."

"Sehomara-sama…" Iwahara laughed nervously, "is that really enough? I-"

"You heard me!" Sehomara sent Iwahara another glare – which was enough to make the blacksmith shut up immediately. He then smirked again; "consider it done… give me two days…"

* * *

**End of chapter one.**

* * *

_Thank you for getting this far! If anyone actually __**did** get this far. XD I'd appreciate it if you'd leave an honest review - do keep in mind that this is something I've written for fun more than anything, but I'm always striving to get better. Hope you had as much fun reading as I had writing! :) Thanks for reading!_

_-Janni_


	2. Chapter 2: Fancy Meeting You Here

**Author's Notes:**

_Ch__apter two. :) This is actually most of what I have rewritten so far, so while I hope to be able to post a chapter a day, I might be a little slow as everything from (and including) chapter four will have to be written from scratch. _

_But, yeah - as we get into ages and such in this chapter, I guess I'll have to explain a bit._

_This story takes place when Naruto is 18, meaning it's based more on the manga than the anime, as the manga is further into the future by now. I will not spoil anything that hasn't happened in the anime, however, I can promise that much. :) And if spoilers __**do**__ occur, I'll put a warning at the beginning of the chapter. There's nothing to worry about so far though!_

_Well, hope you'll enjoy!_

_-Janni Pedersen._

--

**Copyrights: **

Naruto, franchise and related characters © Masashi Kishimoto

Kita, Yuunai family, Kei, Iwahara, Saito and related characters © Janni Pedersen

--

**NOTES:**

Words and symbols that may appear in the following chapter and which may need an explanation.

"**Y'know" (said by Naruto):** _My "interpretation" of Naruto's catchphrase, "dattebayo" as I refuse to use "believe it"; This story is based on the Japanese version of the anime/manga, not the English dub._

**Italic only**_ indicates thoughts/thinking, which is not said out loud. __**Italic and bold**__ indicate words that are put extra stress on._

**Konohagakure: **_Hidden Leaf Village._

**Kumogakure:** _Hidden Cloud Village. __Kumogakure is located in the Country of Lightning._

* * *

**Lea****ves and Lightnings.**

* * *

Chapter 2.

The hoof broke the water with a huge splash, and a frog jumped for its life as the black horse cantered through the water at high speed. He paced up as his hooves hit dry land again, and the girl on his back put her hand on his neck, encouragingly.

"Keep going!"

The horse paced up even more, and the girl grabbed onto a tuft of mane in each hand to hold on. He was getting tired… she knew it.

She wasn't doing so well either- every inch of her body was sore, and she had countless of gashes, scratches and bruises from the fierce ride through shrubbery and woodlands. But she couldn't care less.

They had been on the run for two days now, and the hunter-nins were catching up. They weren't far behind. Though wasn't even a kunoichi, she could feel their chakra, and it seemed like - no matter how fast she and Kei were moving - the hunter-nins were still closing in on them. Kei felt it too… he had been pressing himself to the extreme. He hadn't obeyed her when she had asked him to stop so they could take a break. He just wanted to keep running. She had stopped trying to make him rest by now.

They had crossed the border to the Fire Country about a day ago, and had now reached the Great Forest. She still had no idea where she was going, but right now, all she could do was run…

She suddenly felt it…

Her eyes grew wide, but she didn't get to react further before a kunai suddenly swooshed past her ear, making the horse jump aside with a scream.

She almost fell off, but managed to regain her balance at the last second - his canter got even more ferocious, and she clung to him with a shriek as he started moving through the forest, leaving the beaten track, dodging every shuriken and kunai coming their way… she caught the figure out of the corner of her eyes…

"The hunter-nins…" her voice was barely audible.

She pressed her heels into the horse's flanks, making him run even faster, her green eyes, wide with fear.

"Go, Kei!"

The horse grunted, as if he attempted to respond. Kita clenched her eyes shut, and kept clinging onto him.

"We'll make it..!"

Her voice was trembling as she spoke. But she meant what she said. She believed it…

Or at least, she wanted to.

**xxx**

**xxx**

"Barbecued beef ramen, please!"

The elderly ramen-stand owner almost dropped his pot of miso soup he was carrying as Naruto practically threw the money at him.

"Naruto… this is your tenth bowl today…" he looked the blond teenager over, scratching his head, "are you sure it's a good idea?"

"I can handle it, old man!" Naruto grinned widely, "You know me! And it trains the stomach, y'know!" he stuck his tongue out as Teuchi handed him the bowl of ramen, hesitantly. Naruto dug right in, "besides, I have a mission tomorrow… with Sai and Sakura-chan… I have to save up energy!" he started stuffing his mouth without any further explanation, like why he didn't just bring a ton of instant ramen like he always did.

"And you should be training anything _**but**_ your stomach…"

Naruto started choking on his ramen the instant he heard the voice.

"Y-Yamato-taichou?!" he slowly turned around on the chair, sweat-dropping.

"What do you think you're doing, Naruto?" Yamato slapped his own face, "You left your team in the field, didn't you?" he held up his flashlight – pulling his ever-effective 'scary face', which instantly made Naruto back up a bit.

"I-I was hungry..!" Naruto folded his arms, sulking as he regained his composure, "you woke me up and dragged me off so early this morning to train that I didn't get any breakfast!"

Yamato sighed again, shaking his head.

"We're leaving for a mission tomorrow… you can eat later…"

"But-"

"No!" the scary face returned, and Naruto almost fell off his stool, "you'll go train alone, in the far west end of the forest… when you have something worthwhile to show me, you can come back. And don't slack off! I'll be watching you! No bunshins!"

"S-S-Sure…" Naruto stuttered, grinning nervously, "hey… Yamato-taichou… can I just eat my bowl of ramen first?" He pointed to the almost full bowl in front of him, "please..?"

"Naruto…" Yamato moved closer, keeping the scary face, "go…" he pointed towards the forest, "now..!"

Naruto seemed like he was about to protest at first. Then, nodded, jumping down from the stool, quickly, running off.

"You owe me a bowl, y'know..!"

Yamato looked in his direction for a couple of minutes, until the blonde disappeared out of sight. He then looked from the bowl of ramen, to Teuchi.

"Teuchi-san?"

"..yes?" the grey-haired man turned from stirring the noodles.

"Did he pay?" An almost diabolic grin spread on Yamato's face.

"Yes sir…"

"Don't mind me, then!" the captain's grin widened, and he snatched the bowl of ramen, walking off with a quiet laugh, "lesson one: people's motives aren't always unselfish…"

**xxx**

**xxx**

She had gotten away… despite their frantic chase through the forest, and the fact they were almost at the horse's heels the entire time, she had suddenly simply disappeared, and Sehomara seemed to get more and more furious by the second.

He and the rest of his team were still jumping from treetop to treetop, through the forest, keeping track of every little movement below them… all of his subordinates had their faces covered, apart from their eyes. Only the forehead protectors with the tell-tale cloud symbol and chuunin vests revealed where they came from and what they were.

They had barely rested during the two day chase… and apart from the previous hour-long chase through the woods, they hadn't seen the girl either.

Sehomara clenched his teeth. It was almost afternoon now… apparently, he had underestimated the girl when he told Iwahara he'd have her taken care of within two days… he paced up a little, instinctively. He had always been right- he had never missed a deadline, self-imposed or not… but this girl could certainly run…

"I think she's gone, Sehomara-san…" one of the chuunins that had previously been somewhere in the back made his way up to his side. The man's voice was quiet- respectful, "ever since she got away from us, we haven't seen a single horseshoe-print. And we're getting close to Konoha territory. Maybe we should rest a little and continue the search tomorrow. It'll be dark in a couple of hours and the entire team is exhausted..."

Sehomara frowned. He knew the chuunin was right… however, that'd mean not making the deadline… He wasn't scared of Iwahara- far from it. He could snap the blacksmith's neck in the blink of an eye if he wanted to. It was simply a question of honor and dignity. And a little bit of stubbornness perhaps.

"Well… It's obvious that we won't catch her today… and I'd rather not have to deal with the leaf-idiots." he muttered to himself. "we'll camp." He gave the chuunin a slight glance, "go tell your team."

The chuunin bowed his head slightly to him and turned around, jumping back into the rest of the team… they started setting off towards the ground.

Sehomara narrowed his eyes and clenched his teeth even harder.

_You're in for a rough time, kid..! You'll regret pissing __**me**__ off for sure!_

He definitely didn't like losing. Especially not to a child who wasn't even a ninja. But as he set off towards the ground, a calmer smirk spread on his face.

_Luckily__ for you, it's the last mistake you'll ever make._

**xxx**

**xxx**

It had been quiet for several minutes now… even the birds seemed to be quiet in this area of the forest. A dark purple-haired head suddenly poked out of some shrubbery, and a pair of green eyes started looking around, observing and registering every move – flinching at the slightest wave from a leaf.

After a few seconds however, she seemed to calm down. She swallowed, and let out a breath of relief.

"I… I think we lost them…"

The whisper penetrated the silence a little. The bushes then moved a bit, and a black horse rose up from them with a snort. The girl immediately jumped up from the bushes as well, grabbing the horse by the head, hushing at him.

"You _**still**_ have to stay quiet..!" she whispered, through gritted teeth, "ready to continue?"

The horse replied with a quieter snort. The girl then nodded to him, jumping onto his back.  
"Come on then…" she patted his neck, and the horse started walking, "but be quiet, Kei..!"

The horse simply let out another quiet snort, which made the girl slap him over the neck – though, rather softly.

"Quiet, or you're tonight's dinner..!"

If the horse could make expressions, he would probably have looked pretty amused. And as Kita realized he wasn't exactly scared of her, she simply rolled her eyes, with a slight sigh.

But she didn't get to say anything before Kei suddenly jerked to a stop, almost making her fall off.

"Hey! Cut it out..!" she hissed, jumping off the horse's back, grabbing a hold of the rope around his neck as she looked his face over. He was just staring out into the air with his eyes narrowed – he didn't react at all.

She sighed, with a small frown.

"This is not funny, Kei…" she glared at him, "if you-" she was cut off as the horse suddenly grabbed her by the collar with his teeth, lifting her up from the ground before he started running, and practically dove in behind the shrubbery again. Kita was about to explode in a fit of profanities –

But then, heard the quiet mumbling coming from further down the very path they had just been standing on.

"Good boy, Kei…"

She kept her eyes concentrated – their view was blocked by a hill, so she couldn't see much. But she didn't move a muscle, and neither did Kei. A couple of seconds passed. The mumbling gradually increased in volume.

And finally, the person stepped into sight…

He was a blond shinobi, wearing a black forehead protector, a black and orange jacket and orange pants… he appeared to be around 17… about the same age as her.

Her eyes moved back to the forehead protector, and she had to let out a small gasp as she noticed the symbol…  
"Konohagakure…" her eyes grew wide as she stared at the metal plate with the leaf symbol on the boy's forehead, "have we really come that far? We-" she didn't get to finish the sentence before Kei suddenly jumped up and charged towards the boy.

"KEI!! NO!!" Kita got up with a scream, grabbing onto the rope before Kei got anywhere. But she was only dragged with him as he ran.

"KEI, DAMNIT! STOP!"

**xxx**

**xxx**

Naruto was still muttering to himself- profanities, most of all - cursing the trees, his sensei and missions…He kicked a small rock along the way, clenching his teeth together.

"Stupid Yamato-taichou… he knows I've cut through enough stupid leaves and waterfalls by now..!" he kicked the rock, making it fly several feet down the path, "he's not even supervi-"

The scream cut him off…

It didn't sound human… he stopped dead in his tracks, looking around; there was nothing.

He then heard the hooves, thundering down the gravel path… before he could react, a horse suddenly appeared over the hill in front of him, on the path, cantering towards him, ferociously. It was dragging a girl with it; She was trying to hold it back by a rope around its neck, but judging by her frustrated screams, she didn't seem to be very successful at it…

"What the..?!" Naruto stared at the horse for a second; It didn't stop, and his eyes slowly widened.

"Oh shit!!" he turned around on his heel and started sprinting the other way, down the path, with a scream. Of course this didn't help much- the horse with the screaming girl soon caught up to him and started kicking, trying very hard to hit him, forcing Naruto to try and dodge by jumping and ducking in one big mess.

"OI, WOMAN!! CONTROL YOUR ANIMAL!!" he snapped at the girl who was still trying to hold on to the animal, while he attempted to avoid the kicks that now seemed to come from everywhere. He felt a bite to his arm, and let out a yelp, but kept his struggle up – he was confused… he couldn't go all out on the animal – he certainly didn't want to kill it, or harm the girl. But if they kept this up, he'd be the one dying…

Suddenly, he felt one of the hooves hit- right on the side of his head. It made speckles of light dance before his eyes, and was followed by a kick straight in his chest… feeling his ribs snap one by one, he tried to let out a cry in pain, but it was like all air had been stomped out of his body… he fell to his knees, grabbing his chest, glaring at the girl who had finally managed to calm down the horse… or maybe the horse just thought he was no longer any threat. She was just staring at him. And her eyes were wide in what seemed to be… fear?

Naruto swore under his breath, quietly… then, fell over forwards onto the ground …

"For crap's sake, Kei..! He's a _**Konoha**_ shinobi..!"

It was all he heard before the darkness started engulfing him. And for a brief moment, he wanted to laugh.

_I'm a __shinobi alright… _his mind echoed; _a shinobi who's just gotten his butt kicked - by a damn horse..!_

**xxx**

**xxx**

She looked the unconscious boy on the ground over, still with widened eyes.

It had happened so fast. He could've been a spy, and Kei had been right to attack- at least if the point had been to scare away the stranger.

But this..? The horse really had gone all out. She squeezed her lips together in frustration.

"Kei…" she turned to the horse with a slight frown, "maybe you shouldn't have done that…" she started poking the blonde with the tip of her sandal, "we have enough trouble already…"

The boy didn't react. Of course. She let out a groan, shaking her head with her eyes closed.

_Perfect… at least, he's not dead...  
_

The horse would've smirked if he could. He just frowned a little instead with a grumble. The girl sighed.

"The hunter-nins have stopped to camp somewhere…" she muttered, "they haven't moved for hours. And it's getting dark, so… let's follow their example…" she rubbed her forehead – then, turned to Kei; "but _**you**_ are going to carry him!" she pointed at the boy, glowering at Kei "he's gonna give us hell when he wakes up… and rightfully so… but we have to take care of him 'till then."

_I'm not letting anymore people down..._

Kei looked at her, seemingly perplexed for a moment. Then snorted again as he walked over to the boy, helping Kita get him onto his back.

As the two them slowly started walking down the path, Kita looked the blonde over out of the corner of her eye.

Bruises had already started appearing where Kei had kicked him – but apart from a black eye, he didn't appear to be in immediate danger. She sighed again and shook her head with a grimace.

"Next time, knock out one of the cloud ninjas, will you, Kei?!" she groused, "as if we don't have enough trouble as it is..!"

* * *

**End of chapter two.**

* * *

_Thanks so much for reading! :) I'd appreciate it if you'd leave a review and tell me what you think - be it good or bad (and what I could do better). Naturally, I'll read and review one of your stories in return for your time and effort._

_Thanks once again! :)_

_-Janni._


	3. Chapter 3: Introductions

**Author's Notes:**

_Ah, this came out a little late – I'm sorry. __XD_

_I really appreciate the reviews and adds to fave story and fave author you people have given me – really really! And I'll be doing my best to review your stories as well in return. Due to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, I work a little slow, but though I'm slow, it doesn't mean I won't get it done eventually - I will, I promise! :)_

_Well, as for this chapter… my brain isn't working right at the moment, so while I think it's better than chapter two, I'm sure there's lots that could be improved. But I hope you enjoy it nonetheless! :) Chapter four may take a little longer than the previous chapters have, and I apologize for this in advance – like I said, I pretty much have to rewrite that from scrap, while this and the two previous chapters were already written and just had to be edited a bit. But thanks for reading once again! Hope you enjoy!_

_-Janni Pedersen._

--

**Copyrights: **

Naruto, franchise and related characters © Masashi Kishimoto

Kita, Yuunai family, Kei, Iwahara, Saito and related characters © Janni Pedersen

--

**NOTES:**

Words and symbols that may appear in the following chapter and which may need an explanation.

"**Y'know" (said by Naruto):** _My "interpretation" of Naruto's catchphrase, "dattebayo" as I refuse to use "believe it"- I write according to the Japanese version of the anime/manga, not the English dub._

**Italic only**_ indicates thoughts/thinking, which is not said out loud. __**Italic and bold**__ indicate words that are put extra stress on._

**Konohagakure: **_Hidden Leaf Village._

**Kumogakure:** _Hidden Cloud Village. __Kumogakure is located in the Country of Lightning._

**Hitai-ate****:** _Forehead protector – the headbands that most shinobis in Naruto wear._

* * *

**Lea****ves and Lightnings.**

* * *

Chapter 3.

"They haven't gotten rid of her yet?!" The blacksmith barred his teeth, "they haven't even found her?!"

The genin messenger - a teenage boy – in front of him shook his head and stepped back, obviously rather frightened.

"N-no, sir…" he stammered, stepping further back, "the messenger falcon just came in… they have set up camp for the night…"

Iwahara looked like he was about to downright attack the genin for a brief moment.

But then seemed to calm down, gradually looking thoughtful instead…

The girl would die for sure. What did it matter if it took a little longer? It would just make Sehomara even more impatient. His blood thirst would increase along with his rage, and the longer it took to track the target down, the longer he'd allow her to suffer before killing her - which didn't bother the blacksmith one bit… but by sending an annoyed message to Sehomara, telling him to hurry up, he'd basically be digging his own grave. It wouldn't be the first time Sehomara showed his discontent by killing whoever hired him over petty things, and surely, another incident and another life wouldn't bother the guy the slightest.

Iwahara frowned, nodding to the genin.

"Good job." He growled, "go. Make sure to inform me of the progress."

The genin nodded. He quickly turned around and disappeared out of the meeting room…

As the door was closed once again, Iwahara turned to the table beside him and looked the map on it over, picking up the dagger beside it.

A map of the Fire Country.

"Keep running…" with a sudden and almost entirely invisible motion, he had thrown the dagger - in such a manner that it had imbedded itself in the table – cut through the map. Marking the middle of the Great Forest. He clenched his teeth, fighting to regain his composure.

"You'll just make it worse for yourself, bitch!"

And he was probably right.

Sehomara wasn't exactly getting happier…

**xxx**

**xxx**

"He still hasn't returned..?" The pink-haired kunoichi's voice was quiet for once. So unlike her usual self.

The ANBU shook his head in response to her question. Her azure eyes were instantly averted.

"We should go look for him…"

Yamato sighed, rubbing his eyes.

"He'll be back. He hasn't missed a mission before, has he?"

"He has never run away for an entire day before either!" Sakura furrowed her brow, "what if he's hurt?"

"Don't worry … if he isn't back by tonight, I'll go look for him." He sent his student an encouraging smile, "You know Naruto. He'll be fine! He probably found something urgent he had to attend to… a new ramen stand or something."

Sakura arched an eyebrow.

_A__ new ramen-stand… in the middle of the forest..?_

She didn't say anything though. With a sigh, she shook her head a little.

"I guess so…" she then looked up with a half-smile, "I'm sure he's fine… I… I'll see you tomorrow then, Yamato-taichou!" she bowed slightly as she started walking out of his room; "let me know if you hear anything! I'll do the same…"

As the door closed behind the girl, Yamato let out a breath – a breath he didn't even know he had been holding, since Sakura entered the room. Slowly, he closed his eyes.

Normally, he wouldn't be concerned about Naruto. He knew that this kid could definitely take care of himself.

But so did Sakura. And when _**she**_ was concerned, Yamato knew that he had good reason to be too…

_Naruto…_

He opened his eyes, looking out the window. Konoha didn't seem different at all – but _**something **_about all this just wasn't right.

_Where the hell are you?_

He knew Sakura would probably talk to Tsunade about this. And he understood her desire to go look for her teammate. But he also had a feeling that if they went and looked, it'd just make everything even worse.

_Make __**what**__ worse?_

He wasn't sure himself.

But he _**was**_ pretty sure of one thing: they were going to find out. Soon…

**xxx**

**xxx**

His head hurt…

In fact, his entire body hurt… and he'd forgotten where he was…

He remembered being at Ichiraku – the ramen stand… then, that Yamato arrived. That he had ditched Sai and Sakura during training… that he was sent off to the forest to train alone… and…

His eyes snapped open as it all came back to him-

The girl and the horse!

He slowly sat up, letting out a groan, wincing in pain… that horse had done a good job, beating him up. That was for sure…

"You awake there?"

His eyes snapped open again as he heard the voice…

She was sitting a distance from him, on a log. There was a small camp fire between them.

"You got a concussion and broke quite a few of your ribs… I'm sorry." She half-smiled at him, apologetically, "Naruto, was it?"

The surprise was obvious in his eyes at first. But it was quickly replaced by a frown.

"Who--" a jolt of pain immediately shot through his chest as he spoke, and he cut himself off short with a gasp and clutched his chest as the pain forced him to lie down again - but he still kept his eyes on the girl. Still frowned; "who the hell are _**you**_?!" he repeated – a little quieter, "how do you know my name anyway..?!"

He felt bandages under his jacket… she had certainly done her part well.

"There were times where I thought you were awake… you kept mumbling 'my name is Uzumaki Naruto' over and over again as well as some other gibberish." She let out a small laugh, "I supposed Naruto would be your name?"

"Maybe…"

Naruto looked up at the sky instead… it was pitch black already, and if it wasn't for the fire, it'd probably have been freezing cold too. As glanced to his right, he noticed his hitai-ate, nicely folded beside him… feeling his forehead, he noticed that she had put bandages on there too…

_Can't__ really say she hasn't been thorough…_

He caught sight of a cup of what appeared to be green tea and a bowl of noodles, standing beside the folded-up hitai-ate. His stomach instantly started growling. He was starving, to say the least.

"Can--"

"It's for you… I figured you'd be hungry."

Naruto slowly sat up again, careful not to make his ribs hurt again.

"Thanks…" he muttered, slowly grabbing the bowl of noodles and the chopsticks. He kept his eyes on the girl as he started eating.

She was wearing a rather dirty and damp brown robe that went all the way down to her ankles. It looked like it had been snatched from a convent or something. Only her face and a bit of dark purple- almost pitch black- hair was visible. Her eyes were bright green, and her skin, rather pale… she didn't look very healthy – not only because of the paleness, but she also seemed rather emaciated. And lost. Like a trapped animal.

Not that it was any of his business. He turned his head away a little and took a sip of the tea…

The sharp, bitter taste hit promptly, and he started choking, dropping the cup as he fought to regain his breath.

"What the hell did you put in there, woman?!" he hissed, pointing at the cup that was now on the ground, still coughing, "that tastes worse than your horse smells..!"

"It's just herbal tea. It's for the pain and any possible infection. You started getting a fever too, so I assumed it'd be a good idea." The girl frowned a little, "I think Kei gave you a pretty wound as he bit you in the arm…"

"Kei?! Who the hell is Kei?!"

The girl motioned back over her shoulder with a nod. As Naruto looked in the direction, he finally noticed the horse- which was looking straight back at him… or rather, glaring…

"Oh, great! The crazy animal bit me too?" He folded his arms and let out a snort, "doesn't surprise me …"

"He just tried to keep us safe…" the girl groused, "stop being rude, would you?!"

"Safe from what?"

The girl's eyes flickered for a second. She quickly averted them.

"Nothing! It's none of your business..!"

"Ah…" Naruto lifted an eyebrow, "oh yes… the trees are really big and scary in this part of the forest, you're right!" He smirked, smugly, "you're not very convincing, y'know."

"Don't make assumptions." The girl sent him a glare, "You should get some sleep… I'll bring you back to Konohagakure first thing tomorrow morning."

Naruto blinked.

"Huh?!" he scratched his head, "how did you-"

"Your hitai-ate."

"Oh… yeah…" Naruto glanced at the hitai-ate on the ground, "but… I can walk, y'know!"

"In that condition?" the girl grimaced, "You'll most likely fall over and pass out within the first two steps. I'm trying to do you a favor here!"

"Suppose you did when your crazy horse attacked me too?" Naruto put the now empty noodle bowl down on the ground, "you're not very good at that."

The girl immediately sent him another glare.

"I said I was sorry already!" she snapped, getting to her feet; "and I gave you a good reason too! Stop being an ass!"

She didn't wait for a reply before she turned her back to him and grabbed a bucket that had been standing next to her and walked up to the fire, and proceeded to pour dirt onto the flames.

Naruto's jaw instantly dropped, and as he started struggling to get to his feet, he looked like he was about to have a seizure of sorts.

"OI!" he spluttered, "what are you doing?! It's gonna be freezing now..!"

The girl just sent him an odd look over her shoulder. It made him stop trying to get to his feet, even as he kept staring at her, rather perplexed.

"Why are you doing that?!"

She didn't reply - just turned back to the fire and grabbed a blanket that was lying next to it and threw it to him.

"I don't want people bothering me." She finished covering the fireplace with dirt, "I only made the fire for noodles and tea. And seeing that you tossed most of it on the ground, I assume you don't want seconds."

Naruto just looked at her with an eyebrow lifted for a couple of seconds but didn't make any remarks.

She confused him… but she still seemed to have reasons for her weird actions. So he just let it be…

Instead, he started unfolding the blanket and laid back down, putting his head on the backpack that she had apparently given him to use as a pillow, watching as the horse came walking up to her, before lying down. She spoke quietly to it, smiling genuinely before the horse blocked his view of her as she laid down too, leaning against the animal. Only the top of her head was visible to him.

Within half an hour, everything was dark and quiet again. The horse had apparently resumed glaring at Naruto – though he was lying with his back facing towards the horse, he could still feel its eyes. And as he rolled over, the horse _**was**_ indeed looking at him. Rather suspiciously. It was pretty clear it didn't trust him one bit…

Well, from what he had seen, neither the horse _**nor**_ the girl trusted _**anyone**_ one bit…

"Crazy animal..!" the blonde growled, sending the horse a glare back, "if it wasn't for you, I'd have been going on a mission with Sakura-chan tomorrow..!"

The horse just snorted at him…

"Kei… stop bothering that idiot and go to sleep…"

The girl's remark made his jaw-muscles clench slightly – but as he was about to make a nasty remark in return, a realization hit him.

"By the way, y'know…" he started, clearing his throat, "I never got your name."

He wouldn't get anywhere by yelling at her. While he refused to admit – even to himself – that he needed her help to get back to Konoha, he figured that he might as well try to be nice. Even if she annoyed him…

"You don't want to know." The girl responded, letting out a quiet laugh, "trust me…"

Naruto fought the urge to make a face.

"You a medical ninja?"

"No…"

"Another kind of shinobi?"

"No."

"Come on!" he pulled his fox pout, sitting up, "at least tell me your name." he smirked, "you already know mine - it's only fair…"

"Please! Go to sleep..!"

"You just told _**me**_ to trust _**you**_…why won't _**you**_ trust _**me**_?" Naruto's smirk grew.

The girl didn't respond. She was quiet for several seconds.

"Kita…" the reply was barely audible, "Yuunai Kita. I'm a civilian."

"Funny name…"

Kita sent him a glower over the horse's back.

"Why, thank you, Mr. Whirlpool…"

He let out a small laugh and laid down again, looking at the sky … with not a cloud visible, the stars shone through clearly… he sighed, deeply. Though he hadn't drunk much of it, the herbs in the tea Kita had given him did their job well- not only was the pain considerably numbed, he was also starting to feel rather tired.

"Oi, Yuunai."

"What now?!" the girl's head poked up from behind the horse's back; she was all but glaring at him, "are you an insomniac or something..?!"

Naruto smirked with a slight snicker… she certainly had a temper…

"You'd make a great medical kunoichi, y'know!" he sent her a closed eyed grin.

Her expression seemed to soften up a little.

She then shook her head with a small, overbearing smile and disappeared behind the horse again.

"Kei must've hit your head pretty hard after all…"

Naruto just kept his smile, rolling his eyes, but slowly managed to get comfortable under the blanket.

Mere seconds later, he was asleep.

Kita however didn't have it that easy. Staring at the sky with a slight frown on her face, she was deep in thoughts instead.

The hunter-nins were still too far away for her to feel their chakra, so they had to be resting still – she was sure. But she had to be even more on guard, now that she had someone slowing her down.

_I should've left him, shouldn't I?_ her frown grew; _someone from Konoha would've found him eventually…_

She grimaced inwardly – if someone hadn't found him, he probably wouldn't have been able to drag himself home. Eventually, he would've died instead.

But he was a shinobi – he was stronger than her and not in any danger as such. Why did she still care..?

She didn't know. But she was going to keep her word – she'd take him back to Konoha, and then get the hell away. Run again.

_Run where?_

She didn't know that either. But she couldn't just quit, right?

Right. At least she wasn't going to.

At least, not right now…

* * *

**End of chapter 3.**

* * *


	4. Chapter 4: Catching the Stray

**Author's Notes:**

_Well, I've learned one thing by now: Fighting scenes are __**hard**__. Very, very hard. xx But I hope I was able to pull it off and do a half-decent job so far._

_I do feel horrible for cutting up the fight scene though – this chapter was originally 13 pages long because of the fighting scene, but I like to stick to 6-8 pages – so I cut it and will be leaving the rest for the next chapter. I know, I'm horrible. : But it did create a nice opportunity for a cliffhanger, and we all love cliff hangers, right? 8D has rotten tomatoes thrown at her_

_cough… anyway, I removed the words that I thought you might be able to remember from the "dictionary"-list. I figured you're all able to remember what a hitai-ate is and what Kumogakure is and why Naruto occasionally says "y'know". : So I'll just be keeping the more important ones and adding the new words as they show up in the chapters from now on!_

_Hope you enjoy! Thanks for the reviews and additions to fave story and fave author… I LOVE YOU! 3_

_-Janni Pedersen._

**--**

**Copyrights: **

Naruto, franchise and related characters © Masashi Kishimoto

Kita, Yuunai family, Kei, Iwahara, Saito and related characters © Janni Pedersen

--

**NOTES:**

**Italic only**_ indicates thoughts/thinking, which is not said out loud. __**Italic and bold**__ indicate words that are put extra stress on._

* * *

**Lea****ves and Lightnings.**

* * *

Chapter 4.

It was morning. And the team was up and running again - jumping from tree to tree in a pace that would make the fastest formula one car of our world pale in comparison.

They had been going on like this for hours, after only a couple of hours of rest - yet, they didn't seem any slower than they had been the day before. They all seemed determined – their eyes, shining with the kind of willpower that only shinobis possessed.

What sounded like an animal's cry suddenly sounded through the forest. All the ninjas promptly stopped dead in their tracks.

"The scout…" Sehomara stated, looking down towards the ground, before he turned to his second in command – the leader of the chuunin team; "where is he?"

"In the western end of the forest…" the chuunin replied, "he should be there by now for sure anyway…"

"I see…" Sehomara frowned, "we should be able to avoid getting in trouble with Konohagakure if we go there… we're getting close to Konoha territory though."

He turned away from his second in command, "let's continue. On the ground. There's no reason to arouse suspicion."

**xxx**

**xxx**

The sun had just started rising – nocturnal animals had started heading home to their burrows, and the birds were starting the first verses of their morning songs - but a certain blond shinobi had been wide awake for hours and was now lying, looking up into the morning sky with his arms folded behind his head and a thoughtful expression on his face.

Even with birds singing, everything was nice and quiet. Looking over at the horse, he noticed it was still asleep… and still blocking the girl from his view.

_Overprotective thing…_

He still had no idea what exactly it had to be overprotective against. Nothing was happening in the Country of Fire at the moment that he knew of… yet, Kita seemed to be downright paranoid. For some reason, she didn't seem like a local either…

He had almost fallen asleep again when something soft suddenly touched his shoulder. As he turned his head to look, he stared straight into a pair of brown eyes…

Belonging to the horse that was now standing, glaring down at him…

He let out a loud scream and leapt to his feet, swearing at the horse in front of him.

"_**YOU**_..!!"

"KEI! Damnit!"

The voice made Naruto turn, now facing Kita who instantly grabbed the horse by the rope and started dragging him away while she looked around – with a good amount of obvious, genuine fear in her eyes.

She turned to Naruto again, her eyes, still quickly glancing around the clearing.

"Did… you hear anything?"

Naruto blinked, with a puzzled look on his face, scratching his head with an arched eyebrow.

"Was I supposed to?"

Kita hesitated for a second. Then, let out a sigh, looking away.

"Never mind…" she brushed some stray hair away from her face as she sent Naruto a slightly dark look, "I'm gonna go pack some stuff… if you're ready, we can leave…"

She turned around and started walking away again, whispering something probably not very nice to the horse on the way. Naruto just nodded, still with an arched eyebrow.

Either, she was extremely paranoid – a complete nutcase - or she really _**did**_ have her reasons. She was obviously scared…

He couldn't really figure it out, but he was pretty sure it was the latter.

**xxx**

**xxx**

"There he is…" Sehomara stopped and crouched in the tree as he caught sight of the genin scout up ahead on the path under them. He turned around, facing the chuunins with a slight smile spreading under his mask.

"Get ready to attack. I think he found what we're looking for."

_Finally… that brat sure is illusive!_

They made their way to the ground. And as Sehomara walked up to the genin, he quickly noticed the reason for the scout's signal.

A distance away, behind a small amount of trees, they could just spot a familiar black horse. It was grazing calmly.

Sehomara turned to the scout, giving him a slight nod in approval.

"Good work..." he kept his voice low, "I take it you've confirmed the girl's presence too."

The boy nodded.

"But…" he hesitated for a moment, "there's a Konoha shinobi there as well, Sehomara-sama…"

Sehomara narrowed his eyes, swearing almost silently under his breath.

"A Konoha shinobi?! Why the hell is Konoha involved?! She's from Kumo..!"

"I-I don't think Konoha is involved as such, sir…" the genin stepped back, nervously fidgeting with his own fingers, "He's injured… I heard them talking- I believe the horse kicked him… she just treated his injuries."

Sehomara however seemed to be calmed down a little by this message.

"I see." He uttered, "Good work, boy…" he turned and started walked back to the small group of chuunins again; "stand aside, kid… we're attacking."

A chuunin hesitantly stepped forwards.

"But… what about the Konoha kid, Sehomara-sama?"

Sehomara stopped. He seemed speculative for a moment. A grin then spread under his mask.

"It's unfortunate that Konoha had to get involved." He stated, "But… If he gets in the way, kill him. Stop at nothing. That's what we're here for!"

**xxx**

**xxx**

"You don't _**really**_ expect me to get on the back of that crazed animal, do you?!" Naruto grimaced, scowling at Kei; "if so, you really are stupider than you look..!"

Kita turned to him, putting her hands on her hips with a rather unimpressed expression on her face. Naruto didn't seem alarmed, however - he looked rather relaxed, lying on the ground with his arms folded under his chin. He lowered his eyebrows as he noticed her look.

"Come on..!" he shuddered, "he's already tried to kill me twice and it hasn't even been an hour since his last attempt, y'know!"

Kita rolled her eyes with a sigh.

"He's not gonna hurt you if I tell him not to… and I told him not to."

"Right…" Naruto snorted, "Like I trust that…"

"I don't care whether you trust my horse or me or not. I just want to get your ass back to your village so I can be on my way again!" Kita sent the blonde a glare over her shoulder as she put a blanket on Kei's back. Her patience was running low, "the faster the better… so stop behaving like a defiant five year old and get on the damn horse..!"

Naruto observed her with an eyebrow lifted for a moment.

"Oh, really?" he leered, "If I'm that much in your way, you could have just left me, y'know! It'd have suited me fine!"

"You would've died. And unlike shinobis, I'm not the kind to run from responsibilities I ought to take."

"Well, you're running from something – I know that much…" Naruto's sly smirk grew – even more so as Kita stiffened.

She slowly turned to face him, narrowing her eyes.

"What the hell do _**you**_ know?!" she barked, "don't you dare..!"

"I know nothing- but you could always explain it to me." Naruto tapped his fingers on the ground, obviously fully aware that he wasn't exactly on his way into Kita's good books.

She just glowered at him for a moment, still with her eyes narrowed.

But after a brief moment, she let out a heavy sigh and closed her eyes.

"I… guess I could."

It was barely audible. But Naruto's smug smirk immediately vanished, in sheer surprise that she wasn't going to skin him alive.

But before she could even open her mouth to speak again, Naruto sensed something… a presence… and he heard the familiar whistling sound of something, flying through the air… something sharp.

He quickly realized what…

"_**GET DOWN!!**_" he leapt to his feet, lunging his entire bodyweight at Kita, hitting her so hard they flew several feet and landed hard, sliding across the forest floor.

But he was successful - the kunai flew straight past his face. It drilled itself into a nearby tree, and was immediately followed by three shurikens.

As he landed on the ground, he had to fight the unconsciousness… the pain shooting through his ribs was so immense he couldn't breathe for several seconds…

He forced himself to get up on his arms however, and as he and Kita looked around, his heart skipped several beats. He ignored the pain and swiftly got to his feet.

They were surrounded. By six Kumo shinobis – chuunins, judging by their vests…

Kita swore under her breath.

"I didn't think they were moving yet…"

"What the..?!" Naruto gaped at her, baffled, "You KNEW these people were after you?!"

"W-well… uh… technically-"

"Why didn't you say anything?!" Naruto snapped, "jeez, woman..!"

Kita just sent him an icy glance.

"My limit of how many people I want to drag into this is very low!" she snapped back, "why do you think I wanted to get you back to Konoha as fast as possible?!"

Naruto made a face and let out a groan.

"Just get on your rabid pony and get out of here..! I'll hold them back while you run!"

Kita's glower was quickly replaced with a rather perplexed look.

"N-no..!" she riposted, "they're just gonna follow!"

She was obviously taken aback – to say the least – that he wasn't even asking questions – that he was just going to help her without knowing what was going on

"Not if I keep them here!" Naruto smirked.

Kita clenched her teeth, hard.

"I'm gonna stay!" she snapped, "In the condition you're in, you couldn't keep them here for ten seconds if the world depended on it!"

Naruto sent her a short, hard glower.

"You're kind of annoying, y'know!" he growled, "why-"

He didn't get to finish the sentence before a laugh - a strong, deep voice - cut him off.

"I'm terribly sorry, kids… I can't give you much more time for your little spat there… even though, I must admit, it's entertaining to observe…"

The voice sent a chill through Kita's body, and she froze with a short gasp, abruptly turning to Naruto.

"Get out of here..!" she hissed through clenched teeth, "this is gonna be bad!"

Naruto didn't get to respond before the voice broke in again.

"Ah. You must be Kita-chan …"

Neither Naruto nor Kita was able to react before what seemed to be a shadow suddenly jumped down in front of them and grabbed Kita by the front collar of her robe. She only got to let out a small cry in surprise before she was pulled up, off the ground, and the shadow jumped backwards, landing a fair distance away from Naruto.

Kei let out a loud neigh and charged towards Kita's attacker - but before he was able to get anywhere close, he was grabbed and held down by four of the chuunins.

Naruto stared at the man who was still holding Kita, petrified.

He was tall. Dressed in a black armor except for the black cloak and face coverage he was wearing. His hair was black and spiky – but his chakra was what took Naruto aback.

It was so thick it was almost physical - dripping with sheer malignity. He knew this guy wasn't just an average shinobi. He had a lot of lives on his conscience.

"You must be the Konoha ninja my scout mentioned…" the man looked Naruto over, making the blonde snap out of it, "I'm just here for the girl. If you stay out of this, we won't hurt you."

"Oi..! Let her go..!" Naruto still seemed confused, but managed to keep his cool, "she didn't do anything!"

"Oh, she did…" the tall shinobi pulled out a kunai with his free hand staring at Kita who seemed downright paralyzed, "but it's none of your business. I'm gonna give you a single chance… go home to your village and stay out of this! Forget you ever saw this."

Naruto gritted his teeth, hard. He kept glaring at the shinobi standing before him. But as he was about to speak, he was cut off short;

"Just do it!" Kita's voice made him turn to her – it had turned quiet. Trembling. But she was looking at him with a kind of calmness - like she had expected this and just accepted that there was nothing to do now. As he met her glance, she just looked away, as if she was ashamed; "go home."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, glaring up at Sehomara again.

"Never..!" he growled.

The man just gazed at him, haughtily. Kita seemed to freeze for a moment, before she gawked at him, her jaw, dropping.

_What…? What the hell does he think he's doing?!_

"Well… your choice, brat!"

Naruto didn't get to react as the stranger suddenly moved. Kita cried out, screaming something to him that he didn't hear – but he didn't notice it before he felt the sharp pain, in his chest – a pain so sharp it instantly sent him to his knees, making him cough up blood.

He heard Kita's cries – but he still couldn't hear quite what she was saying. And as the blood flowed freely, his eyes went empty. He sank, into a limp, lifeless lump on the ground.

The five kunais had hit him dead on. Several of them, penetrating his heart through his already broken ribs.

* * *

**End of chapter 4.**

* * *


	5. Chapter 5: Clouds vs Kyuubi

**Author's Notes:**

_This chapter was horrible to write. XD I actually had a version of it I wrote back in 2003, and I decided to go with that as it still follows the storyline of the version I'm writing now – big mistake. It was so poorly written and in a completely different style than the one I write in now that I had major trouble piecing it all together._

_So I __**will**__ be writing everything from scratch now for sure. But I doubt I can get a chapter finished every day, so I think I'll stick to every second day or so. We'll see. :)_

_Well, I hope this chapter didn't suffer too much from my horrible act of using my earlier fics as reference. And I hope you enjoy. It's the longest chapter so far too. :)_

_Take care!_

_-Janni Pedersen._

--

**Copyrights: **

Naruto, franchise and related characters © Masashi Kishimoto

Kita, Yuunai family, Kei, Iwahara, Saito and related characters © Janni Pedersen

--

**NOTES:**

Words and symbols that might need an explanation. For others, please refer to earlier chapters or drop me a word. :)

**Italic only**_ indicates thoughts/thinking, which is not said out loud. __**Italic and bold**__ indicate words that are put extra stress on._

**Kage Bunshin: **_Shadow Clone._

**Kawarimi: **_Replacement Technique. Where a shinobi uses a cover of smoke and replaces him/herself with something, i.e. the commonly used log._

**Bijuu: **_Tailed beasts – i.e., Kyuubi._

**Jinchuuriki: **_The human hosts of the bijuus. I.e. Gaara and Naruto._

* * *

**Lea****ves and Lightnings.**

* * *

Chapter 5.

Kita let out a cry, fighting the stranger's grip, frantically as Naruto's body fell to the ground. Limp. Lifeless. The black-haired man just seemed to stare, rather baffled that the kunais actually hit.

But as he was about to let out a laugh, Naruto suddenly disappeared with a small pop, and a cloud of smoke started rising.

He was gone. Even as the cloud of smoke cleared, the spot where the blond shinobi had once been was empty- And while Kita paused her struggling, gawking at the spot, the dark shinobi just rolled his eyes.

"Kage Bunshin and Kawarimi… ne?"

He suddenly reached upwards – and a cry revealed that he had predicted correctly.

He was holding Naruto by the ankle.

"What the..?!" Naruto blinked. "how the hell did he-"

"I thought for a moment that you might not be genin level…" the stranger jeered, "I was right… you're far more useless than a genin!"

Naruto's jaw-muscles clenched for a moment, and he lowered at the man with his teeth clenched. But a half-smirk then spread on his face.

"And you made a mistake!" He reached into his pouch, "always have a hand free!" he swiftly pulled out a kunai and went for his attacker's abdomen.

The stranger only let out a laugh – he abruptly let go of both Naruto and Kita – they instantly dropped to the ground, and as the air was once again beaten out of Naruto, he gasped for breath, fighting to stay conscious once again.

_Damnit..!_

The stranger however simply disappeared – suddenly and quickly, into thin air… Naruto blinked once again, stumbling to his feet while he still fought to regain his breath, wondering for a moment if he was actually still awake – or just hallucinating.

"What the hell?!" he wheezed, "where did he go?!"

"Watch out…" Kita all but whispered – yet, she still seemed eerily calm; "I recognize this guy…his name is Sehomara." She squeezed her lips together, looking away; "Kumogakure used to hire him to assassinate S-ranks if they got too close to the village…"

Naruto just frowned.

_S-ranks?! But she's a civilian..!_

But he didn't get to respond - a blow to his head suddenly sent him rolling forwards, straight into a tree. Light danced before his eyes, and the air was beaten out of him again – he had to fight the unconsciousness once more, even harder than before. He could taste the blood in his mouth – but he kept focusing, staggering to his feet.

Kita fought to get up, but she didn't get very far before she was picked up off the ground, seemingly by nothing, and thrown backwards, into the arms of the two remaining chuunins. They immediately pinned her to the ground.

"UZUMAKI!!" she hollered, unsuccessfully attempting to fight off the chuunins, "it's an invisibility jutsu! Track his cha--!"

She was cut off as one of the chuunins hit her over the head, rather hard, before lifting her head up by the hair.

"That's it, freak!" he hissed at her, promptly gagging her with a piece of cloth, "you've said enough!"

Naruto narrowed his eyes…

_Invisibility jutsu…_

It was all the info he needed.

"You asked for it, gorilla-man!" he suddenly laughed, "just watch!"

_Time to pay rent, fox-bastard!_

"I suggest you keep your focus on the fight, punk!"

Naruto looked around, trying his best to determine where the chakra originated from… the voice seemed to come from everywhere – even inside his head - but he still felt the presence… and as the whistling of a kunai, flying through the air reached his ears, he just jumped to dodge, feeling the strange red chakra slowly fill his body.

_Speed it__ up, vermin! We don't have all day, y'know..!_

He had to dodge three more kunais… then, finally, he felt the chakra flow freely, enveloping him – letting a single tail emerge…

"_**Finally**_..!"

Sehomara and every other ninja froze dead in their tracks, staring in terror as Naruto slid to a stop…

Even Kita and Kei had stopped struggling as they felt the chakra.

It was… menacing. Downright horrifying.

"What's going on?!" Sehomara whispered- even he was taken aback by this chakra, "what the hell is going on?!"

He fell silent however as Naruto suddenly turned his head towards him, peering at him with an almost diabolic grin. His previously clear blue eyes were now ruby red, and the sheer tension in the air made Sehomara's blood freeze.

_What the hell is he..?!_

He barely got to react before the blonde charged- It happened with such a speed that no-one got to register it before they heard a scream.

Coming from Sehomara.

The assassin became visible the second he was hit. He slid across the ground, straight into a tree and hit it with such a force the trunk immediately started breaking with a loud, creaking sound, and a giant crash that made the ground tremble as it fell.

The chuunins started whispering to each other, a couple of them stepping back while staring at Naruto, obviously terrified.

"Let her go!" Naruto's red eyes focused on Sehomara. He didn't notice the blood that slowly started running down his chin from the corner of his mouth, "the walking steak too!"

Sehomara stirred. Then slowly started getting up, looking Naruto over, coldly. As he had gotten to his feet completely, he just staggered a bit, still focusing on Naruto.

He then turned to the chuunins that were still holding down Kita.

"Let her go…" his voice was coarse - even more so than before, "her horse too…"

The chuunins hesitated, clearly. Exchanging glances, they once again started whispering.

"_**Now**_, you imbeciles!!"

The chuunins flinched and drew back immediately, letting Kita get to her feet. She ran to Kei, dragging him off by the rope to make sure they got a good distance away from the chuunins – but she didn't run off. As she and Kei were a fair distance away from the shinobis, they took cover behind a few trees, peering out from behind.

Naruto turned his attention back to Sehomara once he was sure they were safe – still with the grin on his face.

"Now…" he growled, "leave…"

Sehomara just kept glancing at him, as if he was assessing his strength and chakra just by looking at him.

"Or do you want more?!" the blonde stepped forwards, baring his teeth.

"We'll leave." Sehomara stated, calmly. Coldly; He didn't budge however; "Don't worry."

He nodded slightly at his squad. They promptly started hurrying off, still murmuring to one another as they kept staring at Naruto.

Sehomara himself turned and started walking away as well. Another chuunin, apparently the second in command, ran over to support the man but was promptly shoved away.

Naruto kept glaring in their direction as they walked, even as Kita and Kei came walking up to him, keeping their eyes on Sehomara and his team as well.

"They're really leaving…" Kita whispered, quietly, a smile suddenly emerging on her face, "they're actually giving up…"

But just before Sehomara and the chuunins disappeared out of sight, Sehomara shoved away the second in command once more and turned around, peering straight into Naruto's eyes…

Naruto narrowed his eyes, his grin, long gone as he glared back – but Sehomara didn't seem phased at all.

"You do realize," he began, speaking loudly enough for both Naruto and Kita to hear, "that this girl is a criminal. A missing-nin. We _**will**_ have to return to annihilate her... those are my orders. It's our mission. But until then…" he spun around and started walking with a small laugh, "she's your problem."

Kita glanced at Naruto, warily, as the group had disappeared out of sight completely… his eyes had slowly begun to turn blue again, and his chakra was returning to normal as well.

In a matter of seconds, he was back to his previous self, and he turned to Kita with a laugh.

"Showed them, didn't I?!" he simpered, "Uzumaki Naruto rules the battle again!"

Kita didn't smile back however. She blanched instead.

"You're bleeding…"

Naruto instantly stopped laughing.

"So? It's probably just a scratch!"

Kita frowned.

"It's internal bleedings, you moron! It's coming out of your mouth!" she walked over to him, putting a hand on his chest. She pressed softly – barely touching him.

But the reaction was immediate - Naruto's eyes widened and he fell to his knees, letting out a yelp in pain… he had trouble breathing again, and as he gasped for breath and had to cough, the crimson puddle that landed on the ground said it all.

"See?!" Kita knelt down, glaring right into his eyes, "you shouldn't have interfered!"

"Wha..." it came out as a whisper… and he wasn't able to say anymore before he fell over and the pain forced him to curl up. He clench his eyes shut.

_Damnit..!_

"Your lung is punctured… using a lot of chakra didn't help either…"

Kita seemed concerned - for once, she wasn't trying to hide her emotions. She quickly got to her feet, grabbing the blanket that had been thrown off Kei's back during the attack from nearby.

"I suppose you know how to get on a horse…"

"I… I'm not…" he had trouble getting the rest of the words out. And he didn't have to either.

"If you don't get on that horse and you don't get back to your village as soon as possible, you're gonna die! Because I can't heal you!" she snapped, glowering at him as she put the blanket on the horse's back, "how's that?!"

Naruto gave her a dark look. But as she helped him sit, then, to his feet, he didn't make any objections.

Soon, he was on Kei's back.

"You just ride home. Once you get to Konoha, just let Kei go. He'll run back here, and-"

"Come on." Naruto's voice was barely audible, but he was able to finish the sentence, "get on."

"_**Come on?**_" Kita repeated, lifting an eyebrow, "I can't go to Konohagakure..!"

"Why?"

"Because!" she folded her arms, "they won't want me there, trust me!"

"Well trust _**me**_- they'll have to stick that somewhere the sun doesn't shine, y'know!" Naruto half-smirked, "I'll steer this thing…"

Kei let out an angry snort at this remark.

"What do you want me to do?" Kita arched an eyebrow, putting a hand on Kei's forehead as she picked up the bridle from the ground.

"Get on behind me."

Kita's eyebrow was arched even further, and she and Kei looked at each other, oddly. But she then sighed, putting the bridle on Kei.

"Oh well…" She rolled her eyes and got up onto Kei's back, behind Naruto, "I hope you know how to ride a horse without killing yourself… and me."

"Of course I do!" Naruto laughed, "_**Anyone**_ can ride a horse!"

He kicked Kei in the sides – considerably harder than the horse was used to, making him neigh angrily.

"Off we go!" Naruto simply laughed and dug his heels in again, this time getting Kei to rear - forcing Kita to throw her arms around the blonde's waist with a shriek and hold on for dear life as the horse started cantering through the forest, leaving a tail of dust in their wake.

She made a face, glaring at the blonde's back.

"Uzumaki…" she groused.

"Hm?"

"Kei's gonna get you for this once you get outta the hospital…"

Naruto didn't respond – but he still had a huge grin on his face.

He had no idea who this girl was – no idea what she did to end up in this situation; if she even did anything at all. And he knew he was going to get hell for bringing her to Konoha.

But his gut feeling knew her well enough to tell him to help her. And there was something about this girl – something that made her seem so… _**similar**_ to him.

And even though she had apparently already given up – that she had accepted the fact that these people were stronger than her and was sure they'd kill her eventually – and had accepted that as well - he was sure he could change her mind – make her fight.

Even if he had to _**make**_ her..!

**xxx**

**xxx**

Sehomara was still staggering through the forest, followed closely by the chuunin squad. The members were still whispering to each other - horrified and perplexed – to a degree where some of them were still trembling from the encounter with the malicious chakra…

"Sehomara-sama… are you alright?"

Sehomara sent his second in command a scowl.

"Of course!"

The chuunin was quiet for a moment. He then stepped forwards again, hesitantly.

"May I ask… why did we draw back?"

Sehomara just stared out into the air – seemingly contemplatively.

"The Konoha brat." He stated, "did you feel that chakra? That was a bijuu… he's a jinchuuriki."

"But, sir-"

"We'll return back to Kumogakure. We need to discuss this with Iwahara. That kid is taking her to Konohagakure for sure. We have to plan our next move carefully to ensure that the political relationship between Kumo and Konoha isn't put at risk." He then smiled; "But not to worry… the girl _**will**_ die. That's for sure. And it won't be pretty!" he started walking again, not even looking at his squad, "let's take a break somewhere. Then, set off and get back to the Lighting Country."

The second in command looked from Sehomara to the rest of the chuunins, seemingly addled. The rest of the men seemed to be right as perplexed as him.

At any other time, Sehomara wouldn't have hesitated – he would've kept fighting the jinchuuriki, even if it resulted in his own death. This was common knowledge about this man; he never backed down. The fact that he had done just that didn't make sense…

But he was right – they did have to discuss this with Iwahara. It was in Kumogakure's best interest not to bother Konoha too much. And with a criminal on the loose – and now _**inside**_ the walls of Konoha - Kumo have to walk on eggshells.

The leading chuunin sighed, scratching his neck as he turned to the rest of the team.

"Let's go…" he spoke, quietly, "we're returning to Kumogakure… for now."

**xxx**

**xxx**

"Just let me take over already! You're gonna get yourself killed!"

Despite her tone, it was quite obvious that Kita was concerned – and though Naruto only replied with a cocky laugh, she decided just to bite her tongue – at least for now.

"I'm immortal!" Naruto's voice had gotten rather weak – and though his cocky grin remained, it was clear that he wasn't feeling all that well – his breathing was labored and his eyes seemed distant every now and then, as if he was slipping in and out of consciousness, "this is nothing! We'll be there soon, anyway."

"Pests _**are**_ hard to get rid off, but that doesn't make them immortal…"

"Oi, you're not very nice, y'know! I just saved your life!"

Kita didn't reply. She just half-smirked, though, still seemed pretty uncomfortable.

Kei was running as fast as his legs could carry him – every now and then Naruto still decided to give him a kick, but apart from a stern glower in the blonde's direction, Kei didn't react. He was running himself tired, but it certainly didn't show. Still, Kita knew it was only a matter of time before he'd break down. They had been on the run for four days, neither of them had gotten a decent meal since they had to flee, and… well, she wasn't doing too well either.

But it was nothing compared to Naruto. And as his head gradually started hanging a bit down onto his chest, as if he was falling asleep, Kita gritted her teeth, suddenly snatching the reins out of his hands, from behind him.

"H-hey..!" he protested, sending her a look over his own shoulder – he was pale. Blood was still running from the corners of his mouth; "I'm fine, y'know..!"

"Hell you are! You keep passing out, you moron!" Kita snapped, keeping her focus on slowing Kei down a little. As the horse obliged, she looked up at Naruto, "what the hell _**was**_ that anyway!?"

"Was what?" Naruto frowned.

"That chakra!"

Naruto flinched. His expression cleared for a moment, replaced by a somewhat flustered expression. He quickly turned his head away.

"Just a jutsu." He heard himself reply, managing a laugh as he rubbed his neck, nervously. "it comes in handy sometimes."

"Ah…" Kita arched an eyebrow, "well… how do I get to Konoha?"

She didn't bother asking anymore questions about the chakra. As Naruto realized that she had let it go, he let out a breath of relief, inwardly. He wasn't exactly eager to tell her there was a tailed beast living in his stomach…

"Follow the path. You'll be able to see the gates soon."

Kita just nodded.

Kei seemed to relax more as well the second he realized she was in control. But he could also feel Naruto gradually succumbing to unconsciousness, so despite Kita's efforts to slow him down, he paced up instead – and as Kita realized why, she just let him.

"Naruto! Hey..! Hang on… okay?"

No reply.

Kita swore under her breath, pressing her heels into Kei's flanks. His hooves thundered down the gravel path, and Kita had to hold her breath to muster the strength to hang on, as well as keeping Naruto from falling off. He was breathing, though, shallowly – and though he had gone completely limp, and though Kita couldn't see it, he still had a confident smirk on his face.

And as the gates of Konoha came into sight, that smile seemed to grow.

Even in his unconscious state, he knew it - they had made it.

They were safe.

* * *

**End of chapter 5.**

* * *


	6. Chapter 6: Coming to Konoha

**Author's Notes:**

_Ah, the longest chapter yet! XD Holy carbondioxide!__ If it's written a bit differently than the others, I apologize – I've been feeling odd the past few days, but I wanted to get on with the story, so I hope it's not too badly written, despite the circumstances. :) I'll probably make a few corrections in the next few days as I get better, but it won't be anything too major; just the language. Plot-wise, it's turned out the way it was supposed to, even if things are moving a bit slow now._

_Well, uh… a few people got kinda confused about the Kyuubi's powers in the previous chapter – Kyuubi is supposed to be able to heal most of Naruto's injuries__ - yet, Naruto was still pretty smashed when he and Kita started their mad dash towards Konoha. But hopefully, this chapter should explain just what happened – I hope it makes sense. :) If not, feel free to prod me with a stick (no baseball bats allowed!) and I'll do my best to elaborate!_

_The Kyuubi healing powers is also the reason why Naruto is able to be up and running so shortly after his healing-session. With the broken rib out of the lung, he was able to heal properly, while the rib prevented him from doing so earlier._

_Oh... and no, Kita isn't a jinchuuriki - she doesn't have a tailed beast/demon, so that isn't her issue. XD_

_Apart from that, I guess I'll just put in a little self-advertising! :D Apart from writing, I draw Naruto fanart as well. Should you wish to check this out, my "art" (lol, hardly) can be found at: janni-chan.. Nothing too fancy, but I thought it might catch someone poor soul's interest. :P_

_Well… nothing else to report! Hope you enjoy! :D  
_

_-Janni._

_**EDIT:**_ _Thanks to Janzo the Ashbringer for giving me a heads-up about the spelling/grammar mess-ups! :) Those have been corrected now._

**--**

**Copyrights: **

Naruto, Sakura, Tsunade, Yamato and related characters + franchise © Masashi Kishimoto

Kita, Yuunai family, Kei, Iwahara and related characters © Janni Pedersen

--

**NOTES:**

**Italic only**_ indicates thoughts/thinking, which is not said out loud. __**Italic and bold**__ indicate words that are put extra stress on._

**Baa-chan: **_"Granny", or "old lady". Naruto usually refers to Tsunade as "Tsunade no baa-chan", meaning "granny/old lady Tsunade". I just scrapped the "no" because "Tsunade baa-chan" sounds better, IMO. XD_

**Shishou****: **_Master/teacher. Sakura often refers to Tsunade as "Tsunade-shishou"._

* * *

**Lea****ves and Lightnings.**

* * *

Chapter 6.

"I went and looked – but there was absolutely no sign of him." Yamato muttered, "looks like we have to cancel that mission…"

Sakura frowned at the message. She didn't care about the mission. But the fact that Naruto was completely gone – completely off the radar – was more than worrying.

He had been gone for almost 24 hours by now. And though Yamato had searched for him, apparently, there was absolutely no trace of the loudmouthed ninja – which was quite a feat in itself for someone like Naruto, who didn't exactly hide his presence and whereabouts. Usually, people would be able to track him down just by his yelling.

Sakura leaned against the hospital lobby counter with a deep sigh.

"I'll go look for him later…" Sakura stated, quietly, "the hospital is full today, so I have to work, but--"

"I'm not sure that's a good idea." Yamato interrupted, looking the kunoichi right in the eye; "Hokage-sama said there's been some activity in the forest. But if you _**do**_ go, at least, don't go alone."

"Activity...?"

For once, Yamato actually looked… uncomfortable. He cleared his throat into his hand, and looked at the counter they were standing by, avoiding Sakura's glance.

"Apparently, there're Kumogakure hunter-nins present in the forest…"

Sakura all but dropped the charts she was holding, staring at the ANBU in shock.

"_**Hunter-nins?!**_" she snapped, "When were you planning on to telling _**me**_ this?!" she was trying her best to keep her voice down; still, she was loud enough for a few nurses to turn their heads and stare as they walked by. After a glare from Sakura however, they practically started sprinting down the hallway.

"If there're hunter-nins, there's a criminal! And Naruto is still out there..!"

"_**This**_ is why I didn't tell you…" Yamato sighed, rubbing his face with both hands, "and I know what's coming next too…"

Sakura clenched her teeth, hard, glaring at the ANBU. If looks could kill, she would've killed a whole herd of elephants in Africa from where she was standing, just then and there.

"I'm leaving!" she threw her charts on the counter and spun around on her heel to stomp off, "tell Sai he can--"

"_**SOMEBODY!!**_"

She froze at the cry and swiveled around once again, along with the rest of the hospital lobby. And her eyes grew wide in horror.

_N-Naruto…_

There he was – supported – or rather, dragged - by a girl in a robe, who looked just as terrified as Sakura must have. And he looked absolutely…

Dead.

Her breath caught and she could've sworn her heart stopped beating. But it was as if some kind of reflect engaged – she ran over, taking over for the girl, along with a few other nurses who came running with a gurney. Sakura checked his pulse –it was weak, but it was there…

She sighed in relief.

"Get him an exam room. I'll heal him…" she looked one of the nurses in the eyes, "and please call for Hokage-sama… tell her it's urgent."

The nurse nodded – and they started wheeling the gurney off. Sakura turned to the girl, looking her over, still pretty shaken.

"What happened?"

The girl jumped, as if she was torn out of a trance. With a slight frown, she averted her eyes.

"He was attacked by a horse." She muttered, "and he fought a few hunter-nins… used some kind of weird chakra jutsu…" she then all but glowered at Sakura, "look, it was his own damn fault, alright?! Just go help him..!"

Sakura just nodded, pretty perplexed. But she didn't say anything before she turned around and ran down the hallway, after the nurses.

_A horse?!_

She almost had to laugh for a second – the idea of Naruto, getting injured so extensively by a horse was laughable. But something else the girl said popped up in her mind.

"Some kind of chakra jutsu…" she whispered to herself.

Then, almost stumbled with a loud gasp as the realization hit her…

_Kyuubi!_

She paced up, sprinting down the hall until she reached the room where the nurses where still hovering over Naruto, hooking him up to IVs and heart monitors.

"Move..!" She practically busted through the crowd of nurses, ripping Naruto's jacket open. As she lifted up the t-shirt underneath, she paused however.

Bandages.

_She t__reated him..?_

She quickly shook her head, snapping out of it. There was no time for this! Putting her hands on his chest, she closed her eyes and breathed in, deeply, attempting to concentrate her chakra.

A warm, blue light enveloped her hands, slowly seeping into his body. She sought out the injuries, and while they had already started healing – thanks to the Kyuubi – they were still pretty extensive. While most of the cuts and bruises had healed up, he still had a fractured rib-bone stuck in the lung, creating constant bleeding…

_No wonder the red chakra couldn't heal this…_

She worked hard to stop the bleedings – the Kyuubi's chakra had done some internal damage too, but he was already healing that by himself.

He'd live. It'd take a couple of days, even for the red chakra to heal broken bones, but now that the rib fragment was out of the lung, he'd be fine. – but he'd still need to rest after this. And getting Naruto to rest was harder than the healing itself…

He suddenly stirred. Sakura opened her eyes, and with a slight wince, Naruto slowly woke up, opening his own. The second he caught eye contact, he lit up into a smile.

"Sakura-chan!"

Sakura managed a half-smile as well.

"Quiet. You fractured a rib and punctured a lung - You shouldn't talk." Her smile then disappeared, and she sent him a dark look, "you used the red chakra, you idiot..!"

Naruto's smile just grew.

"Don't let that idiot leave, okay?"

Sakura blinked.

"Idiot..?" she had barely asked the question before she realized who he meant; "that girl..?"

Naruto nodded.

"She's got hunter-nins on her tail, y'know. She wouldn't last a second alone…"

Sakura furrowed her brow; if the hunter-nins were chasing her, that meant…

_She's the criminal__..?!_

It didn't make sense… the girl had seemed downright… _**weak**_. It was obvious she wasn't even a kunoichi.

"Sakura-chan…" Naruto was looking at her with a slight frown, "if she leaves, she's dead."

Sakura looked him over. The internal bleedings had been stopped, so it'd probably be okay for her to go – the girl was probably still in the lobby – she had seemed pretty worried about Naruto, after all… but if she was really a criminal…

Sakura bit her lower lip.

"Okay." she sighed, "I'll be right back." She then sent Naruto another glower, "but you have some explaining to do! We missed a mission because of you, damnit! It's a good thing you're beaten up already..!"

She didn't let him reply though – without a word, she ran out the door, and back down towards the lobby. Still with a furrowed brow.

_Who the hell __**is**__ she anyway?! _

Then again, it was obvious just by the girl's appearance that she had been on the run for a few days already – she _**could**_ have come from the Lightening Country – especially if she was travelling by horseback.

But as Sakura got to the lobby, there was no sign of the girl. She swore, quietly.

_Great… I'll probably have to search half of Konoha and--_

"Sakura!"

A voice cut off her train of thoughts and made her turn – facing Tsunade, who came walking up to her in a fast pace with a pretty serious expression on her face.

"What happened?" the Hokage barely stood still before she spoke, "I heard Naruto came in, and--"

"He was attacked by a horse." Sakura mustered a smile, "I managed to get most of the healing done…"

"A… horse…?" Tsunade arched an eyebrow.

Sakura nodded affirmatively.

"I… have something very important to do… would Tsunade-shishou be able to check on Naruto?"

She knew she couldn't tell Tsunade about this girl – at least, not right now. Protocol demanded that any criminals on the run from hunter-nins were either killed, or handed over to the hunter-nins… as Hokage, Tsunade had to make sure either one or the other was done – and Sakura didn't want to endanger her position or drag her into this until she knew more…

She knew Naruto would appreciate that – but she mentally cursed herself for lying…

"Sure…" Tsunade was obviously pretty baffled, "how extensive is it?"

"Just a few broken ribs, shishou… I fixed some internal bleedings, but he should be able to heal the rest by himself."

"Oh…" the blond Hokage looked Sakura over, rather suspiciously, "I guess I can handle that…"

"Thank you, Tsunade-shishou!" Sakura bowed, deeply, lighting up into a smile, "I'll do double hours in the hospital! I promise!"

She ran out, continuing down the street. Her smile was long gone, and as she set off towards the roves to make sure she'd catch up before the girl reached the gates, her mind was running haywire as well.

She didn't know why she was even doing this – lying to her master was something she'd never even consider. And she was well aware that she'd have to take a beating for it later if Tsunade found out. _**Especially**_ if the girl turned out to be a criminal.

But this was important to Naruto. And if it was important to Naruto, she knew it was the right thing to do – after all, he wouldn't fight hunter-nins for a criminal unless he knew the person was innocent.

Right?

Well, even she didn't know for sure right now. Naruto often let his naivety get the best of him.

But she knew she had to find that girl and stop her from leaving. Preferably fast…

**xxx**

**xxx**

Naruto hardly even looked up from the hospital bed he was now sitting in as Tsunade entered the room. All the nurses had gone, and while the light was still shining in through the window from outside, he had his eyes closed, as if he was asleep.

Even as the Hokage sat down in the chair next to the bed, Naruto didn't react.

Not until she cleared her throat at least.

Naruto promptly jumped, staring at her – and as he was finally awake enough to recognize her, a flash of uncertainty seemed to appear in his eyes for a moment – but he quickly hid it with a big, closed-eyed grin.

"Tsunade baa-chan!

His voice was already stronger than when Sakura spoke to him – he was well on his way to recovery. And while Tsunade's frown faded a little, some of it still remained.

"You…" she started, making a face as she tried to find the right words, "were beaten up by… a _**horse**_..?"

Naruto's face instantly changed into a pout.

"Oi!" he repined, "I didn't want to hurt it, y'know..! I couldn't fight back!"

"So you let it beat you senseless instead…"

"That horse wasn't normal..!" Naruto folded his arms, sending Tsunade a glower, "I swear it--"

"I heard you also fought hunter-nins." Tsunade cut him off short, now with a lifted eyebrow rather than a frown.

Naruto abruptly shut up, just staring at the woman with his mouth dropping open a little. Telling her about Kita would probably mean… well, trouble.

Tsunade sighed heavily as he didn't reply.

"Naruto, what's going on?" she rubbed her brow with a thumb and index finger, as if she tried to relieve a headache, "Sakura just ran like hell away from me, and hunter-nins don't just attack you unless you're interfering…"

Naruto averted his eyes. He seemed almost expressionless for a moment – thoughtful. But he didn't reply.

"The hunter-nins are looking for a girl." Tsunade's voice made him snap out of it once again though – and as he looked at her, she met his glance with a serious, austere look, "a girl who rides a black horse. You come back – brought in by a girl – beaten up by a horse and further injured from battling hunter-nins. I'm not an idiot, Naruto." She was quiet for a moment; still looking at him with that expression, "she killed someone."

Naruto swallowed and looked away, down at his hands on top of the hospital blanket. A slight frown spread on his face – but as he sighed and met Tsunade's eyes again, he didn't seem angry. Just frustrated.

"She treated me after I was knocked out by the horse, y'know." His voice was quiet for once – humorless; "she apologized. She..." his voice trailed off – he gritted his teeth, hard, staring at his hands as he clenched his fists, "she was _**scared**_ when they attacked! She didn't even fight back! She was sure she was gonna die and told me to leave!" he seemed more and more frustrated by the second, "a murderer doesn't behave like that!"

Tsunade kept her serious expression as she looked him over. But there was still a sense of surprise in her eyes.

He was right, after all. If this kid had killed someone by accident, it was one thing – but they wouldn't send hunter-nins after her if that was the case. Hunter-nins were used to assassinate ruthless killers – people who posed a danger to the village in one way or another. And seeing that this girl wasn't even a ninja… well, there weren't really any ninjutsu secrets she could reveal as she didn't know any ninjutsu at all.

Tsunade closed her eyes with a sigh.

"Look, all the records say is that she's wanted for murder." She muttered, looking Naruto right in the eyes, "as Hokage, I have to make sure she's either killed or handed over to the hunter-nins."

"Tsunade baa-chan..!" Naruto barked, "it's not--"

"_**But**_..!" Tsunade cut him off, holding up a hand to silence him, "only if she's guilty. If there's any way to prove otherwise – which there _**will**_ be if she _**is**_ innocent – the hunter-nins cannot kill her. Especially not on Fire Country soil."

Naruto still looked like he was ready to shout at her again for a long moment. But as the words slowly sunk in, he visibly relaxed. He stared at Tsunade, befuddled.

"R-really..?" He lowered an eyebrow, looking her over, suspiciously, "so you won't hand her over..?"

"I need to talk to the Raikage and ask him to send her files. Once I've read them and talked to her, I'll see what I can do." Tsunade smiled faintly, "but seeing that you're so sure she didn't kill anyone, I guess I can put my faith into that for now. You may be naïve, but you tend to know people better than anyone else – and Sakura agreed to help you, after all."

Naruto's huge grin gradually returned to his face.

"Thanks, Tsunade baa-chan!"

"Where is she anyway?" Tsunade arched an eyebrow, "she just busted out of here, and didn't tell me anything…"

Naruto's grin promptly faded at this statement. He stiffened…

If Sakura had run, that meant Kita had left the hospital… if Kita had left the hospital, that meant –

"Shit..!" he hissed under his breath, throwing off his hospital blanket as he got to his feet, "I've gotta go!"

"Naruto!" Tsunade got up as well, watching as the blonde ran to the window, "what the hell--"

She didn't finish the sentence – as Naruto paused, crouching in the windowsill, he turned to her, looking her in the eye with an expression that said it all.

He was terrified.

"I told Sakura-chan not to let Kita leave the village." He sounded anxious, "if Kita did leave the village, Sakura-chan would go after her to get her to come back – if the hunter-nins--"

He cut himself off short with a growl in frustration. He clenched his teeth as he turned back to the now open window.

"I'll be back soon! Tell me when you have the papers from the Raikage!"

And he was off.

Tsunade stood, staring at the open window; completely bewildered, she slowly let herself fall back into the chair, keeping the same expression of utter confusion.

But as the frown reemerged on her face, she seemed to get herself together a little – think coherently. And with a groan, she rubbed her face.

"Damnit, Naruto…" she murmured, glowering out into empty space, "I hope you're right about this person… you're putting a lot of people at risk here…"

And she knew it as well as he did…

If he turned out to be wrong, and someone got hurt, he'd never be able to forgive himself. So, really, it was quite simple.

He _**had**_ to be right. He just had to be.

**xxx**

**xxx**

"Get on that horse, and I'll personally break every bone in your body, damnit..!"

Kita froze as she heard the voice, just as she was about to make the jump onto Kei's back. Both she and Kei turned – and as the pink-haired girl landed in front of them, after jumping down from the roves, Kita reached out an arm and held it out in front of Kei, as a sign for him not to charge at the kunoichi. The horse nickered quietly, but kept his eyes locked on Sakura - alert. Just like Kita.

"I've been looking everywhere for you!" Sakura grimaced, folding her arms as she glowered at Kita, "no wonder those hunter-nins haven't killed you yet! You're pretty good at disappearing!"

Kita jumped slightly at the mention of the hunter-nins. Though she had looked downright hostile before, she now seemed startled – and despite her efforts to look untroubled, it was pretty clear that she wasn't so.

But she didn't say anything. With a small icy glance in Sakura's direction, she suddenly turned on her heel, and dragged Kei along by the reins as she started walking down the street. The horse quickly followed, after sending a glare in Sakura's direction as well.

Sakura blinked, puzzled. The attitude of this girl had changed remarkably from the quiet, worried person she had seen in the hospital lobby. But Sakura wasn't ready to give up just yet. She set off, after the girl.

"Wait..!"

Kita stopped once again. But she didn't turn to Sakura this time around. She just stood there. Even Kei didn't turn.

Sakura stopped a distance behind her, apparently at a loss about what to do.

"Hey…" she mustered a smile, "you must be hungry! I can buy you something if--"

"Look, I can't stay any longer." Kita cut her off short, suddenly turning her head a little to look at Sakura over her own shoulder – her eyes were still icy. But there was something else Sakura couldn't quite put her finger on; "the hunter-nins will--"

"_**SAKURA-CHAN!!**_"

Kita herself was interrupted by the sudden yell – by an all too familiar voice. And she and Sakura barely got to turn before Naruto landed in front of them – looking rather frantic.

"I thought you were out of Konoha already!" he grabbed her by the shoulders, almost shaking her, "the hunter-nins would've--"

"I'm here." Sakura muttered, giving him a meaning look before glaring at his hands – which he promptly removed - "but your friend here isn't happy about staying, it seems…"

Naruto turned his attention to Kita. Then, frowned, all but glaring at her.

"You were just gonna walk out there and let 'em kill you?!"

Kita blinked, taken aback by his sudden tone. But as the surprise settled, she narrowed her eyes a bit, glaring right back.

"No! I was going to _**run**_!"

"They've already caught up with you! They know where you are! You wouldn't last an hour!"

"And whose fault is that..?! Who slowed me down, Uzumaki?!"

"Oh please..!" Sakura cut in, slapping her own face with a groan – making both Kita and Naruto – who had been about to retort before she broke in – turn, dumbfounded, "if you were attacked, they know you're in Konoha already!" she looked at Kita, "they'll be watching the village, and the second you're out on unprotected soil, you're dead!"

"But--"

"Then again…" Sakura interrupted as Kita was about to speak, turning to Naruto – making his rather smug and victorious look disappear, instantly; "how do you suggest we keep her here, anyway? If Tsunade-shishou knew we were keeping a supposed criminal in the village, she'd skin us alive..!"

A massive grin instantly spread on Naruto's face.

"I already talked to her!"

Sakura blinked.

"What did she say then..?"

_Oh… B__usted… crap…_

"That she can make sure the hunter-nins doesn't touch Kita while she's in Konoha!" Naruto's grin turned smug – almost sly, "she'll talk to the Raikage and get things settled!"

Kita seemed to stiffen at his words. Sakura responded, but she didn't quite hear what the pink-haired girl said…

_Get thinks settled…_

But there was nothing _**to**_ settle, was there..? The hunter-nins were after her because she killed someone… and she was guilty. The only way to settle this was to kill her.

"She can stay at my place!" Naruto's voice cut off her train of thoughts, "I have--"

"Oh _**hell**_ no!" Sakura shuddered, visibly, "you'd take advantage of that in a heartbeat!"

"Oi..!" Naruto snapped, sending her a dark look, "I wouldn't! She looks like a _**guy**_! She's flat as a b --"

He was immediately shut up by a blow to the head by Sakura.

"O-Oi..!"

"So much like his sensei…" she grinned, forcibly, trying to control the twitch in her left eye. Then sighed, looking at Kita out of the corner of her eye; "I guess she can stay with me… just until we have this mess under control."

Kita's mouth dropped open a little, and she gawked at Sakura, befuddled.

"But there's no need--"

"Sakura-chan is so nice!" Naruto grinned, practically shoving off Sakura, "Well, Kita'll be right with you! I just need to talk to her, okay?"

Sakura lifted an eyebrow, glowering at him suspiciously for a moment – but as it was clear that his intentions weren't perverted, she nodded – mildly perplexed.

"S-sure…"

"See you soon, then!" Naruto gave her another shove, waving, "it won't take long!"

Sakura looked at him over her own shoulder as she started walking – still with an eyebrow slightly arched in suspicion. But with a slight shake of her head, she turned around – and as she disappeared around a corner, Naruto's grin faded, and as he turned to look at Kita, he looked serious. Stern.

"If you run, I'll come after you, y'know." He grumbled, folding his arms, "Tsunade ba—I mean… the Hokage… she told me what you did."

Kita seemed to freeze. She looked at him, waiting for him to say something – that he was going to kill her, _**anything **_– but he didn't. And with a small frown, she averted her eyes.

"Then, why are you--"

"You didn't do it."

It wasn't even a question. And Kita lifted her head, staring at him in incredulity.

"How do you know that?!" she snarled, "you idiot! I have hunter-nins on my tail! D'you think they'd chase me if I were innocent?! I _**killed**_ that man!"

Naruto didn't seem fazed by her sudden agitation. He just looked her over with the same, serious expression. Coolly. And as she was done talking, a slight smirk spread on his face.

"Then, you couldn't help it."

His voice was quiet. Solemn. But Kita heard every word. And her anger seemed to vanish immediately, replaced by sheer bewilderment. And as she looked away with a slight frown, Naruto's smirk grew.

He knew he was right.

"Then, it's not your fault either." He stated, calmly, "so… let's go after Sakura-chan!" he lit up into another grin and started walking, "You'll like her! She'll take good care of you - as long as you don't mention her forehead…" he winced, "yeah… definitely don't mention her forehead, y'know…"

Kita looked at him again – with a slightly furrowed brow. But then, rolled her eyes and started walking with a sigh. Kei followed promptly, trotting up to her side.

"If you run, I'll come after you?!" Kita repeated, whispering to Kei, "what a manipulative, stubborn little..! _**ARGH..!**_"

Kei just seemed amused - even as Kita glowered at him, he didn't seem concerned.

"Maybe he was on to something when he called you a walking steak, you know..." she murmured, "I bet you'd be less annoying on a plate with barbecue sauce..!"

Kei just nickered - and Kita could've sworn it was a laugh. But as she was about to snap at the horse, Naruto turned to face her, still walking - backwards - as he looked at her - so she fell silent instead.

"I'll take you to Tsunade baa-chan's office tomorrow so you can talk to her." he still grinned, folding his arms behind his head. He suddenly pursed his lips in thought; "maybe she can teach you her boob-jutsu…"

"H-hey..!" Kita stared in horror, "what the hell, retard?!"

"Want me to hit him for you, or d'you have everything under control there?"

Naruto stiffened at the voice, grinning nervously as he turned to his pink-haired team mate, who was standing only a few feet down the street from him, with her arms folded and a pretty unimpressed expression on her face.

"And to answer your question, Kita-chan – yes, he's always like that..."

"Sa-ku-ra-chaaan..!" Naruto pouted – then, smiled broadly again, "hey! We can all go to your place, and we can order take-out ramen and--"

"No. And could you please take the horse to the pen? I'm afraid my mother doesn't appreciate dung on the living room floor…"

Kei would've sulked if he could. Instead, he just glowered at Naruto as the blonde sent him a disgruntled look before turning back to Sakura.

"But Sakura-cha--"

"Naruto..!" Sakura hissed through gritted teeth, sending Naruto a look that made him step back several feet. She then turned to Kita – and a slight smile appeared on her face, "let's go. I bet you're starving!" she grabbed Kita by the wrist and started walking off, making Kita follow, "bye, Naruto!" she sent Naruto a small smile and a wave – and while Naruto stared, baffled, he quickly grinned and waved back – just to get pushed in the back as Kei practically headbutted him, making him turn and blurt out several curses and threats.

Kita managed a half smile and a small wave at Kei before Sakura turned a corner. But Naruto's last outburst got through loud and clear;

"You should've ended up on a barbecue long ago, you fake donkey..!"

She held back a snicker.

_Well… they'll have fun… poor Naruto…_

"I doubt my mom is gonna let you keep that robe… so I say you borrow a t-shirt or two. You're skinny as hell, but I probably have something you can use…" Sakura interrupted her thoughts. She looked at her over her own shoulder – the kunoichi's smile had disappeared a little, but it still seemed genuine, "I'll heal your scratches and such, and you'll be able to get a good night's sleep! You'll be as good as new, Kita-chan!"

Kita nodded slightly, still looking somewhat… bewildered.

Sakura had been close when she and Naruto talked. Naruto hadn't noticed this – or he just didn't let it show – but the pink-haired girl had definitely been able to hear their conversation…

And as Sakura suddenly stopped, almost making Kita bump into her, the purple-haired female tensed up, immediately.

"I heard you."

Sakura's voice was almost inaudible, and she didn't turn around to look at Kita. But she didn't have to say anything for Kita to understand where she was heading with this.

"I figured…" Kita squeezed her lips together. Then frowned; "look, I'm not _**asking**_ for your help! In fact, I--"

She was cut off as Sakura let out a small, soft laugh – and as she faced Kita, she still had a small smile on her face.

"I'm not sure what _**I**_ think." She sighed and scratched her neck as she looked away, "but Naruto was sure…"

"Well, Naruto is an idiot of epic proportions..!"

"He isn't." Sakura suddenly turned serious – she looked Kita right in the eye; "well… he's naïve and sometimes, I wonder if he's hurt his head one too many times, but…" the faint smile returned to her face, "he trusts you. And that's enough for me."

Kita made a face and looked away. She wasn't quite sure what to say - or think, for that matter.

"Even _**you**_ hesitated when he said you couldn't help it. So he can't be all wrong."

Kita looked up at the kunoichi again; behind the frown, she looked tired. Scared.

"It's… complicated." She mumbled, "look, can we just--"

"So he's not wrong." Sakura's smile grew slightly, "and that's enough for me. He's my friend, after all. I believe in him."

Without another word, she grabbed Kita by the wrist again. Then, started walking down the street.

"By the way – he meant it when he said he'll follow you if you run off."

Kita almost laughed. But she managed to hold it back, and just rolled her eyes instead.

"I'm not surprised…"

"And so will I." Sakura looked at her again, her smile, turning almost wicked, "trust me – you don't want to run. And those hunter-nins don't want to try anything, or it'll be the last thing they do!"

Kita gawked at her, befuddled. But only for a moment, before she laughed, quietly.

"I believe you…" she averted her eyes; still with her own weak smile, "I won't run…"

"Promise?"

Kita's smile widened. She nodded, with another roll of her eyes.

"Promise." She laughed again, "I don't wanna get beaten up by an angry pink-haired healer-ninja! You scare me more than the friggin hunter-nins!"

"Thought so!" Sakura simpered, smugly, "well… let's get you food and clothes! I've got a spare futon at home, so we'll just get that set up in my room and tell my mom we're having some movie sleepover thing. Then we're all set!"

Kita nodded, still with the small smile.

It was her first genuine smile in days – and for the first time in ages, it felt like a giant burden was lifted off of her shoulders.

For once, someone wasn't blaming her. For once, she was accepted by other people apart from her parents. Treated like a human being instead of something that should be kept behind a locked door and never let out.

Yet, in the back of her head, in the farthest corner of her mind, she was still afraid. Afraid that once she told them the truth, Naruto and Sakura would turn out to be just like everyone else. Hate her. Fear her. But somehow, that thought seemed ridiculous right now.

Fact was; Naruto and Sakura were a great help - she was okay. And she would be for at least a couple of days.

At least, until the Raikage sent his reply to the Hokage, and they all found out just _**what**_ she was.

Because eventually, they would. She knew that. And it wouldn't be pretty...

* * *

**End of chapter 6.**

* * *


	7. Chapter 7: Rage

**Author's Notes:**

_I apologize for the late-ness of this chapter, but__ there's a reason for this! :P For the past thee weeks, I've been in Turkey, and through two of them, I've had absolutely no internet connection – on top of that, it's 40 degrees Celsius here, and it fries my brain, so I haven't really been in fanfiction mood. XD _

_I wasn't really going to post anything until I got home on the 27__th__, but seeing that this chapter is probably as good as it gets coming from me in this heat (and that it's also hot back in Denmark), I figured I could as well post it and keep working. I enjoy writing, and I'd like to get this story to move forward a bit – and even though this chapter is a bit slow paced, I hope I'm right when I say that the next ones should have a little more action in it. Because this chapter has been hard to write __**because**__ of said slowness – it's torture! :_

_Well, hope your brains aren't as fried as mine! And greetings from Marmaris, Turkey – where YouTube is banned and they serve the best strawberry cake on the PLANET!_

_-Janni._

--

**Copyrights: **

Naruto, Sakura, Tsunade, Yamato and related characters + franchise © Masashi Kishimoto

Kita, Yuunai family, Kei, Iwahara and related characters © Janni Pedersen

--

**NOTES:**

**Italic only**_ indicates thoughts/thinking, which is not said out loud. __**Italic and bold**__ indicate words that are put extra stress on._

**I****kari no Hossa:**_ Literally means "fit of rage". The English term I use for this is __**Rage Attack**__. Will also be referred to as __**Ikari**__._

* * *

**Leaves and Lightnings.**

* * *

Chapter 7.

Sakura watched the purple-haired girl carefully as they both ate their breakfast – as if she expected Kita to suddenly start talking or do something – anything. Because ever since they arrived at the house the night before, Kita had hardly said a word – and once the futon had been set up after her meal and bath, she had gone straight to bed. Which was, of course, understandable, seeing that she had hardly had any sleep for about four days… but still. Even when she woke up, she was still quiet as they picked out clothes for her, and Sakura had ended up just settling for a plain pale pink t-shirt and a pair of beige three-quarter-pants on her own.

Even now, when she was eating the breakfast consisting of miso soup, Kita kept quiet, and there was a kind of emptiness in her eyes. A kind of emptiness Sakura couldn't quite identify… it worried her. Quite a bit, in fact.

"Kita-chan…"

Before she knew it, she had spoken up – and she looked kind of taken aback for a moment - almost nervous - as Kita looked up. But she mustered a smile.

"I'm sorry about waking you up. I really wanted to let you sleep - you've probably been through a lot…"

Kita just looked at her for a while, with a sort of stumped expression. But a weak smile spread on her face too.

"It's alright."

And she went back to her food – not even a word about just _**what**_ she had been through. And Sakura had a feeling that that was the reason for this awkward silence… the emptiness in the girl's eyes. She frowned slightly, looking down at her own soup.

_If we can__'t get her to talk, we can't help her…_

Still, getting her to talk _**was**_ easier said than done – this girl obviously wasn't the trust-without-questions type. The pink-haired kunoichi sighed, closing her eyes for a brief moment, before turning to Kita with a slight smile.

"I don't mind talking to you, you know…"

And immediately, she felt stupid. She had to fight the urge to slap herself as Kita looked her over, lifting an eyebrow.

"Uh… I mean… I know you've been through something, and--"

"_**SAKURA-CHAAAN**_!"

Sakura froze, just barely getting to turn to look at the door to her room before it slammed open and Naruto came barging in with a huge grin - and three cups of instant ramen in his hands. Sakura spotted her mother behind the blonde, but before she got to send her a glower, the woman shrugged, helplessly.

"H-he just barged in… I didn't get to say a word!"

Sakura rolled her eyes, hiding her face in a hand with a slight groan. It definitely did seem like something Naruto would do… even this early in the morning.

"Good morning!" he grinned, broadly, obviously not fazed by the conversation; "I brought breakfast! And--" his voice trailed off as he spotted the miso soup in front of the two girls, "ah…" he blinked. But immediately grinned again, putting down two of the three cup ramens in front of Kita.

"You can eat them, then! You need it anyway! Miso ain't gonna help you fatten up, y'know!"

"Oi…" Kita glowered at him, "isn't it too early in the morning to be an ass, even for you..!?"

"So let's get going!" Naruto ignored her insult, his grin, not fading the slightest as he grabbed both of the girls by their wrists and all but dragged them off – forgetting everything about the ramen he had just given Kita, "the sooner the better! I'm sure Tsunade baa-chan is up anyway!"

Both Sakura and Kita were obviously stupefied, just letting Naruto drag them along with rather baffled expressions on their faces. But while Sakura looked like she was about to explode and lash out at her team mate, she kept her mouth shut and just let him drag them out of the house and down the street, towards the Hokage mansion – at such a speed that Kita was stumbling more than she was walking.

"What's the rush?!" Kita was the first one to speak up, "I'm not Road Runner, you know…"

Naruto looked at her, back over his shoulder – still grinning.

"I figured it'd be better to talk to Tsunade baa-chan before she gets a reply from Kumogakure - she should meet you before making any assumptions."

He turned back to focus on where he was walking.

Sakura's frown immediately disappeared though, and for a moment, she looked almost taken aback as the thought started dawning on her… the thought that Naruto had actually put more thought into this than he was letting on. But she didn't say anything. And as Kita just scowled at him, but did nothing more than mutter something unintelligible in return, the kunoichi just half smiled and let Naruto drag them down the street.

He knew what he was doing – she could tell that much. And right now, she herself had no idea _**what**_ to do. So letting Naruto take the lead was their best option.

And even Kita – as stubborn as she was - seemed to realize that.

**xxx**

**xxx**

The gaze of the blond woman was firm – and though the looks on the Elders' faces seemed to be right as stern, there was no way Tsunade was going to back down – the Elders of Konoha knew that very well.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Tsunade-hime…" the female Elder spoke up, looking the kage in the eyes, "this girl could create a lot of trouble for Konoha. Our relationship with Kumogakure is important – we can't let her presence risk that…"

"I know." Tsunade replied, her voice unwavering; "I'm awaiting a response from Kumogakure. I'm sure you agree that it's unwise to act without a word from the Raikage?"

The Elders were quiet for a few seconds, the two of them, still looking at Tsunade, as if they were concentrating on trying to read her mind. But as the Hokage didn't say anything else, the male Elder sighed.

"We can't have the girl walking around unsupervised! She could be dangerous!"

"Uzumaki Naruto is taking care of that."

Both Elders flinched, all but gawking at the Hokage.

"The jinchuuriki?" the woman clutched the armrest of her chair so hard her pale knuckles turned even more so, "is that wise?"

Tsunade didn't speak. She just looked back at the Elders – still with a small smile.

"He's the one who took her here and talked to me about her. It's only natural that he's on the case, don't you agree?" her smile suddenly grew, "he may be a jinchuuriki, but he's also an excellent shinobi – and I trust him. She's in good hands."

The Elders frowned, both of them, obviously nothing less than dumbfounded.

"But is _**he**_?" the man got to his feet, glowering at Tsunade through his glasses, "Uzumaki Naruto is notorious for being far too trusting of--"

He was cut off by a knock on the door – and whoever knocked didn't wait for a reply. The door swung open, and a familiar orange-and-black-clad shinobi marched inside with a grin, dragging one –also familiar – pink haired girl, and a not-so-familiar purple-haired female who seemed downright horrified as she spotted the three adults in the room.

Naruto's grin instantly faded a bit as he noticed the Elders – it quickly turned embarrassed instead.

"Ah, Tsunade baa-chan!" he let go of the girls, rubbing his neck with a nervous laugh, "I'm sorry – I didn't know you were in a meeting…"

"Usually, when you knock, you wait for a reply…" Tsunade glowered at him – but then, smiled – in an almost friendly manner. A _**too**_ friendly manner; "but the honorable Elders were just leaving! I guess I could squeeze you into my schedule!"

The Elders seemed obviously addled by this comment. However, the message was clear, even to them – this discussion was over for now. But before they said or did anything anything, their eyes moved to the purple-haired girl – and as she noticed their glances, she visibly tensed up, looking down at the floor – with a frown… she didn't like this one bit, and it was obvious.

"Very well." The female Elder interrupted the sudden silence, getting to her feet before bowing to Tsunade, "I trust Hokage-sama has it all under control…"

She walked out without another word – her eyes, fastened to the girl until the door shut behind her. And her fellow Elder quickly followed – though seemingly doing everything in his power _**not**_ to look at Kita.

"Goodbye, Tsunade-hime." His eyes moved to Tsunade, "I hope for your sake you're not making another mistake."

As the door closed behind him as well, everyone in the Hokage office seemed to let out a silent sigh of relief – and after closing her eyes for a moment, Tsunade turned to the three teenagers, clearing her throat.

"Well…" she sighed, her attention moving to Kita, "I assume you're the oh-so-infamous Yuunai…"

Kita's eyes moved from the floor to the Hokage, her slight frown deepening.

"I guess I am."

The reply was a quiet mutter. And for a moment, Sakura had to fight the urge to nudge or even punch the girl. To be impolite in front of a Kage..?! Even if it was Tsunade. Sakura settled for wincing in embarrassment.

_For __crap's sake, Kita...!_

"She didn't do anything wrong, y'know!" Naruto suddenly stepped forwards, making Sakura snap out of it; Kita however just rolled her eyes with a small click of her tongue.

"How many times do I have to tell you!?" she snapped, "I did! I killed someone!"

As Naruto was about to respond to Kita – obviously rather rudely – the sannin held up a hand, immediately silencing the blonde. Her eyes however kept focusing on Kita.

"Would you mind elaborating?"

Kita's somewhat defiant expression seemed to change – for just a split second, she looked flustered. But the defiance returned as quickly as it had disappeared.

"Yeah, I _**would**_ mind..! It's none of your business! I never--"

"Kita..!" Sakura lost her patience, grabbing the girl's shoulder – simply glaring back as Kita sent her a look, "you can't-"

"Sakura." Tsunade looked her student in the eyes, long enough to make her calm down a little – and as the pink-haired girl took a deep breath and let go of Kita's shoulder, the kage's glance moved to Naruto; "you two can wait outside."

Both Sakura and Naruto blinked, looking at one another in surprise.

"B-but Tsunade baa-chan..!" Naruto protested, "we're-"

A look from the woman immediately shut him up.

"Out. Now." She motioned to the door with a nod, "as in _**right now**_. And no eavesdropping – you know I can tell!"

Sakura and Naruto instantly straightened up, and they had hardly even nodded before they hurried off, out of the room – Naruto, sending Kita a hesitant look before he shut the door behind himself.

"Good luck…"

His words were barely audible – and it didn't really seem like Kita had heard them, as she stood there with her eyes locked onto the floor, still with a slight frown on her face.

Tsunade let out a sigh, sitting back in her chair with her arms folded behind her head.

"So…" she looked the girl over, "I sent a letter to the Raikage, asking him what exactly happened." She stretched, suddenly putting her legs up onto the big wooden desk in front of her, "and though I can't tell you what we can and can't do for you before I have that letter, I'd appreciate to hear your side of this messed-up story before reading the Raikage's response… and I can assure you that I'll believe your words as much as Raikage-sama's."

Kita visibly flinched. Her frown faded a bit, and for a moment, she clearly hesitated. Then…

"I did kill someone." Her voice was barely more than a whisper; "a man… a jounin, I think…"

Tsunade kept looking her over – as calmly as before.

"I know that already…" a small smile suddenly spread on her face, "I just want to know what happened… a girl like you – a civilian – you shouldn't be able to kill an adult male, let alone a jounin."

Kita squeezed her lips together, frowning again. The silence in the room – the tension. It was so thick she could've sworn she could smell it. She then sighed – closing her eyes for a second before she looked up at Tsunade, her eyes, suddenly distant.

"_Ikari no Hossa._"

Her voice was monotonous. Tsunade arched an eyebrow, perplexed.

"Ikari no..?"

Kita suddenly smiled. Though, it definitely wasn't a genuine, happy smile. She was putting up her defenses… like Tsunade had seen Naruto do so many times. When he was sure someone would disavow him. Hate and fear him.

"Usually, I have to get completely out of it – enraged - for it to make a difference, but…" she shook her head, "sometimes, I lose control. My chakra gets all… messed up… and then, I black out…" she became quiet, still looking at the floor, "I've never killed before… and I've never received any shinobi training, so people are usually able to fight back and more often than not, I'm the one who's hurt when I wake up." her voice was quiet, and her smile, nothing but an odd grimace by now, "but this time around…"

Tsunade stared at her – as if frozen.

This girl's chakra was nothing to speak of – it was obvious she wasn't a ninja. But what she was telling her – this Ikari. It sounded like…

_A bijuu..?_

No. Kumogakure had already had no less than _**two**_ jinchuurikis among its residents – that of Nibi, the two-tailed cat demon and Hachibi, the eight-tailed fox; they'd know bijuu chakra coming from a mile away. And Kita's chakra definitely wasn't that of a jinchuuriki either. The girl was weak – there was no way around that. Jinchuurikis had to be strong in order not to be wiped out by their bijuu's chakra.

"I wasn't even provoked this time around!" Kita's voice cut off the kage's train of thoughts, followed by a small, feeble and desperate laugh – the girl looked like she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, still with that odd, eerie smile on her face that now seemed almost mad while she kept staring at the floor; "I don't even remember running into Ibaraki-san! I just went to the market place, and that's all I remember! And when I woke up, I…" she made a face, suddenly looking at Tsunade, her eyes suddenly wide open in what seemed to be panic, "Naruto was right about one thing though…" her voice trembled as she spoke – her almost hostile façade long, long gone, "I never wanted to kill anyone… I swear, I'd never do such a thing on purpose! And now… and now, it…" she was obviously fighting to keep herself together – her self-control, crumbling by the second as she suddenly pulled her hair and let out a sound resembling a muffled scream through gritted teeth, "they killed my parents, for fuck's sake! _**My parents**_!"

Tsunade's eyes snapped wide open.

_Her parents…_

The file merely stated that she was an orphan – that she had no parents. Not that they had been killed just before she was chased out of Kumogakure …

The Ikari was more than just troubling. If this girl was telling the truth, she was dangerous, indeed – the file was right about that. But still…

She was a teenager. A c_**hild**_. A child that had just lost her parents. A child who had to deal with the fact that her entire world had fallen apart. A child they could – possibly - help… and as she stood there, staring at Tsunade, the Hokage had to look away. She couldn't _**not**_ do something…

_Naruto and Sakura__ can stay around her - they can take care of themselves… if they stay within Konoha, even if this girl gets one of these attacks, they'll be fine…_ she bit her lip; _I need those papers from the Raikage… I need to talk to people… we can do something… we __**can**__..!_

"For the love of everything holy, _**say**_ something, woman..!" Kita's suddenly shrill voice made her snap out of it – and as Tsunade turned to the girl, surprisingly enough, the Hokage was… smiling. And for a moment, Kita seemed more baffled than anything. Before her frown returned, and she kept looking right at Tsunade.

"Has anyone ever attempted to train your chakra control?" the blond woman spoke, calmly, making Kita's frown deepen even more; "from what you're telling me, it sounds like a chakra-related issue…"

Kita kept staring at her, obviously taken aback by that comment. Then, slowly shook her head.

"Raikage-sama said I couldn't receive any training whatsoever…" she averted her eyes again, "my mother trained me in medical herbology, and I was homeschooled… but that's it… I never even set foot in the academy…"

Tsunade nodded, serious for a brief moment. But her smile quickly returned.

"I need to talk to Sakura and Naruto. They'll be your escorts – along with their team mate – until we've decided what to do." Her smile widened a bit as Kita tensed up, obviously not happy about the idea of letting Naruto and Sakura know about all this; "there's nothing to worry about – they won't think any less of you when they hear about this Ikari … trust me when I say they have to deal with these things on a daily and personal basis… okay?"

Kita didn't look too assured. But with a slight grimace, she nodded.

"I… guess…"

"Good." Tsunade got up, her smile, growing even more, as she started walking towards the door to the hallway where Naruto and Sakura had been told to wait, "we'll talk to them then! And once I have the letter from the Raikage, I'll let you know." She suddenly put her hand on Kita's shoulder as she walked past the girl, giving it a small squeeze as she smirked down at her, "I trust Naruto's judgment – he has a way of knowing people. And while I can't promise anything, I have a feeling that this isn't as impossible as it may seem, Yuunai…"

But in reality, she wasn't sure – and as she turned to the door to open it and call the two shinobi into the office, her smile faded, the words of the Elders echoing in her head.

"_I hope for your sake you're not making another mistake."_

"Yeah?" she whispered to herself – too quietly for Kita to hear; "so do I…"

She forced a smile as Naruto and Sakura turned to face her.

_F__or her sake more than my own… and for his._

**xxx**

**xxx**

_**Raikage-sama,**_

_**I am wri**__**ting to you as it has come to my attention that we currently have a child in our village that is wanted for murder. As she is from Kumogakure, I thought it would be best to contact you.**_

_**The girl answers to the name Kita. She does not appear to be a threat, so I would like to request that you forward all the information you have about this child to me, so I can assess the situation and do whatever it calls for. Also, I would like to hear your opinion as to what I should do.**_

_**Sincerely,**_

_**-Godaime no Hokage.**_

The Raikage sighed and put down the letter, rubbing his face. For some reason, he couldn't help a sense of relief – mixed with surprise that this teenage girl had actually managed to escape the best hunter nin in Kumogakure, without even being a shinobi herself.

But that relief was no where to be seen as he faced Iwahara and the two Elders standing before him. They were all watching him, intensely – waiting for him to speak. Iwahara, with a slight frown on his face. It was clear that the blacksmith wasn't happy at all…

"Raikage-sama?" one of the Elders spoke up. The Raikage nodded slightly, looking down at the note on his desk.

It was clear that the note had been rushed to Kumogakure. Normally, it'd take one day for a messenger bird to deliver messages from Konoha to Kumo – but the note had arrived overnight. For some reason, Konoha cared…

The Raikage's relief grew a few notches – but he still didn't let it show.

"We should give Hokage-sama the information she requests and tell her to make her own judgment…" he stated, calmly, "we'll send it back with the same messenger eagle. She'll have the papers by tonight."

"We'll tell her that it's in her best interest to extradite Yuunai to Sehomara and his team too, correct?" Iwahara spoke up, frowning even more. The Raikage didn't reply for a moment. He knew that what he was about to say wasn't going to please Iwahara.

"Where are they now?"

"I told Sehomara-sama to stand by near Konohagakure. He's awaiting my orders."

"Tell him to draw back for now." The Raikage looked the blacksmith right in the eyes, "I'm going to tell the Hokage to read the files and make her own decision. She'll let us know if it involves hunter-nins."

Iwahara's eyes grew wide. The two Elders blinked, staring at the kage as well. This obviously wasn't what they expected.

"Excuse me?!" Iwahara couldn't quite keep his rage concealed, "we can't just impose Yuunai on Konoha! She's dangerous!"

"I'll leave that decision to Hokage-sama." The kage still spoke calmly, "she's wise. She'll know what to do, and we shouldn't second-guess that."

Iwahara let out a short laugh.

"With all due respect…" his voice was trembling – his teeth, gritted, "Godaime no Hokage has a reputation of being way too soft! It's-"

"Konoha has a great deal of experience in chakra control training. Maybe that's exactly what Yuunai-san needs." The Raikage cut Iwahara off short, suddenly frowning, "you know me well, Iwahara-san. You've served me for thirty years. You should know by now that I would do everything in my power to avoid killing someone – I'd rather find another way to solve the problems at hand."

"Yuunai is dangerous!" Iwahara snapped, "if she kills someone in Konoha, _**we'll**_ be held responsible!"

"Not if we make sure that Hokage-sama is well aware of the risk. If she's still willing to take it, no one will be pointing fingers at Kumogakure if something _**does**_ happen." The Kage suddenly half smiled, "Konoha is home to the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki. People who are dangerous merely because of their chakra is nothing new to them – and if they can help Yuunai-san control her chakra, she will no longer be dangerous."

"But-"

"Tell Sehomara to draw back. This is up to Konoha now. I'm sure Iwahara-san wouldn't want to kill a human being unless it was completely necessary?" the kage's smile grew, "I'll let you know when I get an answer from Hokage-sama. You're dismissed."

Iwahara all but glared at the Raikage. Though it was obvious he wanted to speak his mind, he knew that with the Elders present, he'd probably get arrested for dishonoring the kage – because right now, his thoughts were far from respectful.

So he just got to his feet – and with a slight bow in the Raikage's direction – and another one in the Elders' – he walked out of the room. Rather fast. And as the door closed, it was a bit harder than usual.

The Raikage however visibly relaxed once the blacksmith was gone – sighing, he closed his eyes for a moment, before facing the Elders once again – managing to keep a rather resolute face.

"I trust the honorable Elders do not have any comments?"

Both Elders were quiet for a long moment, giving the other a slight, hesitant look.

"Not as such." Morita finally spoke up, "but I do hope Raikage-sama isn't letting his emotions rule in this case. Yuunai may be a human being – but she _**is **_a dangerous one."

The Raikage hardly even stirred. He just looked Morita over, silently.

"It's up to the Hokage." He stated, "if she wishes to try and help Yuunai, I'm sure she can do a good job – and we have spared a life. We've already taken two, and that's two more than we should have…"

"Agreed." Morita bowed again, and started walking out – followed by his fellow Elder. As he got to the door, he paused though, turning to the Raikage with his hand still on the door handle; "I just sincerely hope Yuunai doesn't add more lives to that count. And that Raikage-sama knows what he's doing."

He didn't wait for a reply. Without another word, he walked out, along with Kimura. And as the kage was left alone, he rubbed his eyes with another sigh, leaning back in his chair.

"So do I…" he muttered, looking down at the note from the Hokage, letting a finger run over the kanji that spelled out the girl's name, "but if anyone can help her, it's them…"

Fact of the matter was, he was far from sure about anything whatsoever. And his emotions probably did have a part in this. But his job as a kage was to protect each and every person in Kumogakure – and though a lot of people hardly considered Yuunai Kita a person, he did. And he'd do everything in his power to make sure she stayed alive.

Even if it meant making decisions based on emotions.

**xxx**

**xxx**

The chuunin obviously had trouble keeping up with the blacksmith as he ran out of the office and down the street – but it was soon clear where he was going.

Out of the village

"I-Iwahara-san..!" the chuunin – a dark-haired, brown-eyed boy, who looked around the age of 15 – paced up a little, hurrying up beside the man, "where are we heading..?"

He had just been told to follow – as an assigned messenger, he was sure this had something to do with Sehomara, but as Iwahara obviously wasn't taking him somewhere to give him a message to deliver to the assassin, the boy was pretty much clueless.

"Take me to Sehomara." Iwahara didn't even look at the boy; he was obviously enraged, "I want to talk to him in person."

The boy nodded, immediately speeding up to overtake Iwahara a little. Still, he couldn't help looking at the man back over his shoulder from time to time as they ran. The blacksmith seemed increasingly… insane. The boy cleared his throat.

"I heard Raikage-sama…" he quietly remarked, "are we going to tell Sehomara-sama to draw back..?"

A sudden laugh from Iwahara made him almost flinch for a moment – and the look in the blacksmith's eyes was nothing less than horrifying.

Pure, unadulterated hatred.

"Hell no!" he roared, "I'll be supervising the attack! Make sure Yuunai is blown to smithereens!" his voice was trembling, "I'm not letting the old fool of a Raikage ruin this chance to kill that creature! She has lived long enough!"

The chuunin stared at him, his eyes wide in shock.

"But Raikage-sama--"

"I'm not paying you to give me advice, kid!" Iwahara barked, seeming downright threatening – but the same, mad smile quickly spread on his face again; "don't worry – it'll be fast. Painless. The Raikage doesn't need to know about it. I doubt Konoha will care when she's finally gone anyway!" he let out another laugh, "Now, speed up! I'm counting on reaching Sehomara's camp in two days at the most!"

The boy swallowed, focusing on the road ahead as he nodded slightly.

Iwahara was paying him, and up until now, he had been loyal to the blacksmith – he too would like to see this Yuunai gone.

But there was a feeling that was etching itself into his very core. A feeling that this was wrong… that this blacksmith had gone mad. Absolutely deranged.

But he kept running. Leading Iwahara through the bare rock desert of the lightning country, despite this feeling.

It was wrong – so very wrong. But he had a feeling that the blacksmith would find out soon enough…

* * *

**End of chapter 7.**

* * *


	8. Chapter 8: North and West

**Author's Notes:**

_Ahhh, this is SO LATE! __XD It's been MONTHS! I'm sorry about letting this story temporarily die… there's been a LOT of stuff going on, so fic-writing hasn't been a priority – but hopefully, I'll be able to post sooner rather than later next time. :) At least this one is uber-mega-long! D:_

_If you're reading the manga, they're elaborating a little about Kumogakure... but - without spoiling - I'd like to say that the Raikage in this story is a DIFFERENT one. The successor, rather. Not the one shown in the manga. I don't know this character well enough to include him in my stories, so I'm making up my own. :)_

_  
Well… for those who have waited for this; I'm so sorry about being so slow! ;; Thanks so much for your reviews and patience, every single one of them (even the critical ones!) are helpful and make me smile! You guys rock!_

_-Janni._

PS: "North and West" isn't as random a chapter name as you may suspect. :) "Kita" means "North" - and it doesn't take a lot of brainpower to guess whose name means "West" after reading this chapter. ;)

--

**Copyrights: **

Naruto, Sakura, Tsunade, Yamato and related characters + franchise © Masashi Kishimoto

Kita, Yuunai family, Kei, Raikage, Iwahara and related characters © Janni Pedersen

--

**NOTES:**

**Italic only**_ indicates thoughts/thinking, which is not said out loud – or Japanese words in an otherwise English sentence. __**Italic and bold**__ indicate words that are put extra stress on._

**Kun****:**_ "Kun" is a suffix usually only used for boys' names. When used for girls, it's usually only used by other girls. Sai is implying that Kita is more a guy than she's a girl, in other words. _

**Tenzo: **_Yamato's real name – Yamato is only a code name, but for some reason, he's always referred to as "Yamato"._

**Kekkai Genkai: **_Bloodline Limit – ie. Byakugan, Sharingan, Shino's bug thing, etc._

**Yajuu/Kumo no Yajuu:** _Monster/"The Kumo Monster"."Yajuu" is usually used for "beast monsters", like the tailed beasts (ie. Kyuubi)._

* * *

**Leaves and Lightnings.**

* * *

Chapter 8.

Sunday mornings in Konoha had always been calm – and this was no exception. Only a few shop owners were opening their stores, and apart from the occasional child playing on the street, the village seemed virtually empty. But there were still three people who had work to do.

It had been three days since their conversation with Tsunade. Neither Naruto nor Sakura had been informed of the Ikari, but had just been told to stay by Kita for safety reasons. The Hokage hadn't specified whose safety she meant, and no one had asked – and Kita was grateful for this.

She herself hadn't tried to explain anything – she had simply put up her defenses again. Stared down at the floor, with a frown on her face. And it was as if she had been frozen in that state up until now – even though she seemed to warm up to Sakura a bit, it only happened while Naruto wasn't around.

And as they walked down the street, she was still stuck in that state – even now as Naruto looked her over. He wasn't even sure if she noticed that fact.

"I wonder why Tsunade-shishou wants Yamato-taichou on the case…"

Sakura's voice made him snap out of it, and as he turned to his team mate, it was with his usual smile on his face.

"Who cares? We can go have ramen afterwards! My treat!"

Sakura rolled her eyes with a small sigh. But a half-smile spread on her face.

"I think we'll pass." She put a hand on Kita's shoulder, "I promised my mother to take Kita shopping for clothes of her own – she can't keep using mine forever, after all!"

Kita finally seemed to react, her frown, suddenly disappearing as she looked at Sakura.

"Shopping..?" she blinked, lifting an eyebrow, "I don't have any money…"

"Don't worry about that! It's on mom! She insisted!"

Kita seemed to freeze – then, made a face.

"I-"

"No declining!" Sakura warned, suddenly looking a little threatening despite the smile, "it's either that or the robe! And I burnt that! So you have no choice!"

Kita grimaced again, letting out a groan.

"I'll pay you back..!"

"Sure!" Sakura's grin returned as she patted the purple-haired girl's shoulder, "but right now, you shouldn't worry about it…" the smile faded as she spotted Yamato and Sai up ahead however – and she couldn't help suddenly shuddering.

"Trust me…" she muttered, keeping her hand on Kita's shoulder as she kept her eyes focused on Sai; "there're other things that could turn out to be much more troublesome… and he's one of them!"

**xxx**

**xxx**

The assassin hardly even looked up as he felt the blacksmith and chuunin approach – it was only when the two were standing right behind him that he turned – a smirk spreading under his mask.

"Iwahara. What a surprise." He got up from his crouching position, brushing off his hands – his dark eyes, still focusing on the man in front of him, "how have I deserved the honor of your presence?"

Iwahara frowned a bit at the mockery, but didn't respond to it. He reached into his waist-pouch, pulling out a paper – with the Raikage's seal on it.

"The Raikage has ordered that we draw back and leave the girl to Konoha."

"Oh?" Sehomara glanced at the paper, "so?"

"Tell the chuunins to stay where they are – I've requested help from someone who owes me a favor."

Sehomara barked out a laugh, his eyes, narrowing in amusement as he skimmed through the letter again.

"And this…" he grabbed the letter out of Iwahara's grasp, holding it up a little, "this is your plan?"

A smile appeared on Iwahara's face – a small, sinister one.

"Indeed." He bowed slightly, "I think you'll find it to your liking." He then turned to the chuunin, "go back to Kumogakure. Tell the Raikage that Sehomara and the chuunins are drawing back."

The chuunin nodded once – and without a word, disappeared, leaping off into the treetops. Iwahara's smile grew – the same almost insane smile he had had when he left Kumo. A smile that made even Sehomara frown a bit as he saw it.

"This time…" the blacksmith clenched his fist – so hard that his nails were almost drawing blood from the palm of his hand, "on the honor of the village my entire family has fought for, I swear it! She'll die - at the end of my sword!" his eyes seemed bloodshot as he looked right at Sehomara, "and it won't be a day too soon!"

**xxx**

**xxx**

Breakfast was quiet. None of the five people at the table were speaking much, and there seemed to be a kind of uncomfortable tension between Sai and his team-mates along with the new-comer. A tension that Yamato was very well aware of – and had somehow expected.

He usually never had to take over for Kakashi anymore. But Tsunade had ordered him to do so – and he had accepted without a question. But he didn't know exactly how to break to the team what the next step in the plan was. He knew they probably weren't going to take it well…

"Oi, you…"

Kita's voice cut off his train of thoughts. She was looking at Sai, who had his usual eerie smile on his face – and was looking right back at Kita.

"Will you stop looking at me?!" Kita muttered, "It's creepy!"

Sai didn't respond – he hardly even moved. Both Naruto and Sakura paused their eating and looked up, Naruto, with an arched eyebrow.

"I was just wondering what's so special about you." Sai replied, making Kita frown a bit, "Naruto-kun is easy to persuade into helping people. But even he has the brain to consider the pros and cons of helping a murderer – and find that the cons weigh heavier than the pros."

Both Sakura and Naruto stiffened. Naruto's arched eyebrow turned into a small frown as well, but before he could reply, Yamato cut in.

"Enough, Sai." He faced the black-haired boy, still with a serious expression, "seeing that Hokage-sama has agreed to let Yuunai-san stay, that should be proof enough that she might have deserved Naruto's help. You shouldn't second-guess the Hokage."

Sai's smile had shrunk a bit – his eyes were open as he looked back at Yamato. But the smile quickly returned as he grabbed his cup of green tea, looking at Kita over the edge of the cup.

"I guess it makes sense. You're weak - the fact that you killed a jounin is very unlikely."

"Tell me something I don't know." Kita smirked, bitterly, "but the idiot here has decided to help me out, cons or not – and I don't want anymore trouble than I already have, so I'm sticking around until they figure something out…"

"Idiot?!" Naruto choked, "I'm saving your life, and you're calling me an idiot?!" he folded his arms, glaring at Kita, "you should be more appreciative, y'know…"

"I never asked for your help! You just keep assuming that I want it, and threaten to hunt me down if I leave the village!" Kita glared at him, "what exactly did you expect?"

Naruto was about to respond – his teeth gritted and his eyes narrowed. But as Sakura suddenly cleared her throat, glowering right at him, he simply shuddered and just sat back, folding his arms.

"You'll thank me!" he muttered, suddenly smirking smugly, "I'm _**always**_ right!"

Kita didn't respond. Letting out a sigh, she rolled her eyes and picked up her piece of bread instead.

But apparently, Sai was forgotten. And both Sakura and Yamato were obviously relieved.

"Yamato-taichou…" the pink-haired kunoichi's voice made the captain look up – she was smiling, rather nervously, "may I ask what we're here for..? Naruto and I were told to watch Ki—uh… Yuunai-san… we didn't hear anything about the rest of the team, joining in…"

"And where's Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto spoke up, lifting an eyebrow once again, "I mean… why are you taking over? He's not injured… did he lock himself up in his room to read Icha Icha again?"

"Naruto..!" Sakura snarled, "he's our sensei..! Be a bit respectful!"

"He's a pervert too! Have you _**read**_ that stuff?!"

"Tsunade-sama asked me to take over for a bit…" Yamato cut in, before Sakura managed to reply – or hurt Naruto; "she said Yuunai-san might benefit from a bit of chakra control training… and she picked me as the trainer."

Both Sakura and Naruto forgot everything about their quarrel. They both stared at Yamato instead, joined by Kita.

"Training..?" Naruto blinked, "she's gonna train _**here?**_"

"At least until Hokage-sama and the Raikage figure something out… Tsunade-sama figured it'd be better that way." Yamato turned to look at Kita, "I realize you don't have any shinobi training – you don't need to worry about that. We'll take it easy, alright?"

Kita mustered enough control to nod slightly, still looking rather confused.

"See?" Naruto grinned proudly, "Now you get to train here too! At least, you won't be bored while Tsunade baa-chan figures everything out!"

For once, Kita didn't bother arguing – she managed a small smile and a nod, and quickly went back to her bread to avoid having to respond.

At least, Naruto was right –

She wouldn't be bored. None of them would. But Kita was pretty sure she preferred boredom over this…

**xxx**

**xxx**

The response from the Raikage was both uplifting and horrible at the same time – the tale of what this girl had gone through. How her parents had been killed as the Kumo residents rioted. How the Ikari had been dealt with in the past – it was all there. Basically, this was this girl's life. And as Tsunade put the letter down on her desk, her head was still full of phrases and words from the letter.

"She has no family left…" she rubbed her temples and closed her eyes, "to send her back to Kumogakure – a kid who's already despised – we can't do that…"

Shizune's eyes grew a little – for a moment, she squeezed Tonton – the pig – so tightly that the animal let out an angry grunt and jumped down onto the floor, making the dark-haired woman snap out of it.

"Tsunade-sama! W-we're not planning on letting her stay, are we..?" she swallowed, "the other villagers—"

"Never mind the other villagers!" Tsunade suddenly smirked, "she already has at least two people she can rely on – which is more than she'll have if we make her return to Kumogakure."

Shizune still looked rather horrified – on the verge of a nervous breakdown, rather.

"Didn't she kill someone..?!"

Tsunade seemed to turn serious, instantly.

"So people say…" she sighed, closing her eyes again as she leaned back in her chair, "which is why I've asked Tenzo to test her strength…"

Shizune's eyes grew wide.

"You…" her voice trembled; "you asked Tenzo to fight her..?"

Tsunade suddenly half-smirked, opening her eyes again,

"Not Tenzo…" she stated, calmly; "we need to check out just how powerful this Ikari is – and if she did indeed kill someone…" her smirk grew, "and Yamato isn't the best person to do that – but I know who is!"

**xxx**

**xxx**

"What the hell is wrong with your head?!"

Yamato made a face – he was positive that the blonde's voice could be hurt in a radius of several miles from their spot at the training grounds.

"Naruto…" Sakura took a deep breath; "it's not like Yamato-taichou is going to beat her up… it--"

"Fighting a civilian _**is**_ beating someone up!" Naruto folded his arms, "she's gonna be a hole in the ground!"

"O-oi…" Kita's eye twitched, "I'm not that weak..!"

"I wasn't actually planning on fighting her…" Yamato broke in with a sigh, rubbing his temple with a rather worn-out look on his face, "someone else will…"

And immediately, he regretted using those words. Naruto, Kita and Sakura all turned to stare at him – Naruto, lifting an eyebrow.

"Then, who..?"

Yamato let out another sigh, making a making a small motion with his hand. A signal.

"Sai."

The black-haired boy who had previously been standing, watching the group quietly, set in action promptly. Without a single word, he disappeared with only a flicker in the air, and reappeared up ahead, several feet from the group. And before either of them could even react, Yamato turned to Kita with a slight smile.

"Just do your best. He'll go easy on you. Don't worry."

Naruto, Sakura and Kita all blinked. Sakura and Naruto immediately frowned, suddenly glaring straight at Yamato, while Kita looked rather horrified.

"Come on..!" Naruto spurted, "she's not even genin..!"

Yamato shrugged his shoulders.

"Like I said… he'll go easy on her."

"At least let one of us fight her, then..!" Sakura spoke up, "Sai doesn't know her! He's-"

"It's better this way."

"How?!" Naruto snapped, "He'll just beat her up, y'know! He doesn't care if-"

"It's fine."

Naruto flinched – both he and Sakura turned, staring at Kita. She just looked right back at them, with a slight frown – albeit looking a bit pale.

"He's your team-mate, right?" she managed a half-smirk, "so I'm not worried. And if this can get us anywhere, it's fine with me. I'll do it."

"Good!" Yamato seemed at least a little bit relieved; "Tsunade-sama instructed me to hold your necklace until the end of the fight."

Kita stared at him for a moment, clearly hesitating. But after a few seconds – with a swift look in Naruto and Sakura's direction out of the corner of her eye - she reached around her neck and unclasped what appeared to be a kind of crystal necklace, handing it to Yamato – still with a nervous smile.

_I hope they know what they're doing…_ She forced her smile to stay; _because I'm not so sure anyone here is sane anymore..!_

Naruto and Sakura sent each other a glance. Naruto seemed far from happy though. Gritting his teeth, he turned to Kita again.

"But Sai-"

"Don't." Sakura cut him off, looking straight into his eyes, "let her fight." She then lowered her voice; "if Yamato-taichou can figure something out from seeing her in battle, who are we to stop him? He won't let her get hurt, after all… you heard him."

Naruto's jaw dropped a little. He couldn't quite figure out what to say. So he just averted his eyes, still with a slight frown.

He didn't like this one bit.

"So…" Kita spoke up, making Sakura and Yamato look at her. For once, she looked nervous – even if it was obvious she was fighting not to let it show. Hiding her emotions… she already had that down to a T, it seemed; "I just have to try and fight this guy..?"

Sakura kept looking at her. She herself wasn't too sure about this – especially not with Sai fighting. But she had a feeling that Sai would be the only one able to do this right. Still… she was wondering if they were all getting in over their heads.

"Yeah." She finally managed, the look from Naruto suddenly seeming downright burning; "just do your best. We'll be rooting for you!"

**xxx**

**xxx**

"The spy has been dispatched, Sehomara-sama…"

Sehomara slowly turned his head to look at the reporting chuunin – a smirk appearing under the mask as the boy stepped backwards.

"Good." He got to his feet, brushing off his hands as he looked down at the lights of the village – by the foot of the hill they were standing on, "the fake letter has been sent as well. We should be done within a few days." He started walking away from the view of Konoha, back towards the camp they had set up, "quite funny that a civilian teenage girl has proven tougher to catch than any ANBU or jounin I've ever had to deal with…"

The chuunin slowly followed – well behind the assassin.

"I'm sure it isn't Sehomara-sama's fault…"

"Of course not!" Sehomara sent the chuunin a glower over his own shoulder – a glower that made the young male almost stumble backwards – but his smirk soon grew, replacing the frown, "without the help from the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki, she wouldn't have lasted long…" he stopped, turning to the young shinobi, "which is why I want you to tell Iwahara that once we attack, the jinchuuriki is _**mine.**_" He narrowed his eyes, "got it?"

The chuunin nodded, immediately. And within a second, he was off, running towards the camp to deliver the message – and to get away from Sehomara. And once he was out of sight, Sehomara laughed, looking down towards Konoha again.

"A jinchuuriki, ne..?" he grinned – looking downright deranged for a moment, "well… nobody makes a fool out of me – nobody delays me… and _**absolutely**_ nobody does both without dying by my hands! Trust me, kid!"

**xxx**

**xxx**

It went exactly as predicted. Though Kita was obviously pushing herself, Sai hardly needed to lift a finger to ensure his victory. He was a root-shinobi – almost beyond ANBU-level - and she wasn't a shinobi at all – a ninja versus a mere civilian. And the gap between their skill-levels was obvious.

Naruto grimaced as the purple-haired girl once again charged at Sai – just to be kicked back and tripped up for probably the twentieth time in a row.

"This is almost painful to watch…" he muttered, rubbing his face with a groan as he turned to Sakura, "d'you think-"

Her look made his voice trail off. She looked focused – staring at Kita and Sai, watching every movement, carefully.

"Sakura-chan..?"

Sakura finally turned her head to look at him – still with a frown on her face.

"Something's going on…"

"Yeah…" Naruto arched an eyebrow, "Kita's getting her ass handed to her! It's humiliating!"

"No, not that…" Sakura shook her head, seemingly focusing on the ground; "Sai is being cautious…"

"I told him to be."

Yamato's voice made them both turn and look up at the captain. He was still looking straight at Sai and Kita, observing them attentively.

"Tsunade-sama told me to check something. Obviously, she couldn't kill a jounin like this."

"Exactly!" Naruto lit up into a grin, "if she did kill someone-"

"Something happened with her. And I'm here to find out what." Yamato looked at them, briefly, "we'll be moving back a little." He looked up at Sai again, suddenly nodding at the black-haired boy – and even as the boy blocked another attack from Kita, he seemed to catch Yamato's signal and nodded back. Yamato turned his attention back to Naruto and Sakura; "let's go."

Both teenagers lifted an eyebrow, looking at the older shinobi.

"But, Yamato-tai--"

"I'm serious." Yamato turned, looking both of them right in the eyes, making them freeze on the spot, "this is just about to get interesting. Believe me."

And he was right - as Sai received the signal, something changed – even Kita could see that. Without a word, she stopped charging, taking a stance around eight feet from the shinobi in front of her, keeping her eyes focused on him – while looking at Naruto, Sakura and the ANBU-captain out of the corner of her eye.

They were moving back – further away from the sparring grounds.

She gritted her teeth, glaring right at Sai.

"What's going on?!" she demanded, "I can't do much more than this! If you're about to fry my ass or blow up or something, I'd appreciate a little warning first..!"

Her legs were already wobbling under her weight – she had trouble catching her breath. She was far from a shinobi – and she knew it. But as Sai suddenly smiled, she knew he was done going easy on her. That signal meant something… and she didn't like it one bit.

"Kita-kun killed a jounin. I'm sure she doesn't need to worry about someone like me!" his smile grew – even more so as Kita's eyes widened at his words.

"H-hey! I--"

"We're just trying to help – so you won't need to take advantage of Naruto-kun or anyone else anymore."

Kita clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. She felt the familiar surge of heat – the sudden feeling of excess energy. She could almost feel the anger surge through her veins. And while part of her fought to keep it down, the rest of her urged it on. She knew it was already taking over.

"Shut up..!" she snarled, glaring right at the boy, "I never asked for all this! I'm not--"

"Naruto-kun is too nice. You never have to ask – he'd put his life on the line for everyone. Even a murderer. A monster."

Kita froze completely at that last word. Her fists were suddenly clenched so hard that her nails were almost drawing blood – pressed into the palms of her hands. Her teeth gritted so hard that Sai could hear them grind together from where he was standing. But that's not what caught his attention and made his otherwise almost permanently shut eyes open.

No.

The rage that suddenly rose behind her eyes – the sudden change and rise in her chakra, the quickening heartbeat – _**that**_ made him hesitate.

Kita suddenly gasped – as if she was suffocating and fought to breathe.

"Not here…"

Her voice was almost too quiet for Sai to hear – but he caught the comment nonetheless, and he knew he was on the right track... He looked her over for a while – as if assessing an opponent.

"Because that's really what you are, isn't it?" his smile quickly returned – the usual, eerie closed-eyed smile, "that's what Kumogakure said." He paused, checking for Yamato's chakra – to make sure back-up was close, just in case…

"A monster." He continued, looking the girl straight in the eyes, "_Kumo no Yajuu_."

And he knew it before he had even completed the sentence…

That did it. She snapped…

The roar and the sudden wave of chakra made them all stiffen. No one got to move before she charged – and though Yamato set off, Sakura and Naruto seemed almost petrified.

"What the hell…" Naruto's voice was barely more than a whisper. And Sakura didn't even respond as she too kept her eyes fastened on Kita as the girl charged at Sai.

Her movement was suddenly fast – almost untraceable. While it was still obvious that she hadn't received shinobi training by looking at her coordination – or lack thereof – it was suddenly obvious why Kumogakure had been so cautious. Why she acted the way she did… why she was so sure people hated her…

She was terrifying – her chakra was so negatively charged it was almost painful to be near it. She barely even seemed human. Attacking everything within reach, in a frenzy of…

Rage?

Yes. This was what this was. This was what her chakra was laced with; Pure, undiluted rage… nothing but malice and the intent to hurt – to _**kill**_.

Sakura snapped out of it as Sai suddenly reached for his sword.

"_**OI!**_"

A yell – and then, a blur of orange and black as Naruto set off. And her eyes hardly even manage to catch track of him before the sound of metal against metal reached her ears and her eyes grew wide.

"Naruto..!"

He didn't even hear the pink-haired girl. He had countered Sai's sword with his own kunai, now standing in front of Kita who was still on the ground after being shoved aside as he had charged at Sai.

Her eyes made Naruto shiver to the bone. They were no longer green, but yellow – but it wasn't the color as much as the look in them. An empty, unrecognizable look of madness – no control whatsoever – and pure hate as she looked up at him, slowly getting to her feet.

Naruto gritted his teeth, turning his attention to Sai. He knew he had to hurry a bit.

"A sword is _**not**_ going easy on someone..!" he barked, narrowing his eyes as he glared at the black-haired male, "she--"

He barely even got to notice the sudden change in Sai's eyes before he felt it – the sudden sensation of the chakra… she was charging… attacking _**him**_.

He froze at the sudden sound… he didn't even get to brace for her attack before it echoed through the training-field.

What sounded like a slap, followed by a sickening crack.

And Kita stopped - dead in her tracks, her expression, suddenly blank.

Her eyes changed – and there was only one thing depicted in her now green eyes as they sought out his own blue before rolling back in her head as she passed out and sunk to the ground.

Fear.

Sakura caught her before she hit the ground, and Naruto finally seemed to snap out of it. His eyes moved to Yamato as the man came walking up to them.

"Nice work, Sakura…" the man looked down at the purple-haired girl with a slight frown, "she'll be out for a few hours."

"What the hell was that?!" Naruto snapped, "what did you do?!"

Yamato didn't seem the least bit fazed by the blonde's anger. He merely sighed, closing his eyes.

"That… is hard to explain." He rubbed his neck, "Tsunade-sama called it _Ikari no Hossa_… apparently, it steps in when she's… provoked." He glanced at Sai, "which seems to be quite easy when you know what buttons to push."

"She knew about this?!"

"She told Tsunade-sama." Yamato reached into his pouch, pulling out the necklace that Kita had taken off earlier, "apparently, the crystal on this keeps it somewhat in check." He handed the necklace to Sakura, who was still kneeling by Kita, "you'd better give it to her when she wakes up."

Sakura nodded, putting the necklace in her own pouch – looking at Kita out of the corner of her eye, she sighed.

"I guess we know what killed the jounin now…"

Yamato was quiet for a moment. He just looked Kita over with a slight nod. Then, patted Sai's shoulder and turned around.

"Well, we're done here…" he started walking – back towards the village, "keep her under observation. Don't let her out of your sight." He sent them a wave, not even turning to them, "nice work, everyone!"

No one responded. Even Sai just stood there, looking down at the unconscious girl as Yamato left. Even after he was gone, the three of them were quiet.

"She's still quite odd…"

The black-haired boy spoke up, making both Sakura and Naruto look up.

"Huh..?" Naruto furrowed his brow, "you can stop trying to piss her off, y'know… she's unconscious, you asshole!"

Sai just gazed at him, his eyes, moving down to Kita again.

"Still…" he remained expressionless – without his smile for once, "she's stronger with this Ikari – but any jounin would be able to counter and block her attacks, even in that state…"

Sakura and Naruto kept looking at him. Even as Sai turned and started walking.

"She's nothing special - it's just a genetic thing. A faulty Kekkai Genkai at best. But you two _**do**_ care, it appears." He kept his back turned to them – suddenly sending them a smile over his own shoulder. The same eerie closed-eyed smile as always; "it's interesting. But I doubt it's very wise."

Without waiting for a response, he turned around again – and with a flicker in the air, he was gone. Leaving Sakura and Naruto with Kita.

Naruto clicked his tongue, kicking the ground a bit before turning to Sakura; she was holding Kita's head up a little, supporting it with an arm while the other was placed over the girl's abdomen as she was healing her. She didn't seem particularly concentrated – still, she was looking out into the air with a distant frown on her face.

Naruto knelt by Kita as well, managing a small smile.

"So she's okay?"

Sakura looked at him, her frown, clearing a bit. She too half smiled as she nodded.

"I just knocked her out – she'll be awake in a couple of hours." She sighed, removing her hand from Kita; "she didn't receive a lot of injuries either… but this… _**thing**_…" she couldn't help a grimace, "it drains her chakra. She needs to be careful, or it could hurt her."

Naruto nodded, looking away. He didn't know quite how to deal with this… especially not when Kita woke up. He had a feeling he knew how she was going to act – and he knew all too well how she had to feel. He couldn't blame her for not telling them about this. Just like he didn't go around, announcing to everybody what _**he**_ was, he was pretty sure that Kita wanted to keep this from as many people as possible…

"Let's get her back to the village…" he muttered, turning to Sakura with a small smile, "I'll keep you company till she wakes up!" and finally, the familiar grin spread on his face, "ramen's on me!"

Sakura's smile returned – and with a slight nod, she got to her feet, helping Naruto to steady Kita so they could carry her between them.

And as they walked back towards the village, her smile remained – but it was just for show. Even she couldn't help wondering what would happen from now on. How Kita would react when she woke up.

But then again, now that she was a real threat – how the rest of the village would react was probably a better question…

* * *

**End of Chapter 8.**

* * *


	9. Chapter 9: Missions

**Author's Notes:**

_I know how we all love chapters where nobody does anything but talk, so here's another one! __XD_

_Seriously, I'm sorry. D: One of the problems I have with writing is that I make everything too long – if I don't, I don't feel that I can make it all come together as a decent story. I guess that's something I have to learn. :) But at least, I managed to finish this chapter fairly quick! Hopefully, I'll get some action put into the next chapter or the one after that. Thanks for your patience! :)_

_Oh, and after I uploaded the last chapter, I got like a HEAP of fave story additions… THANK YOU! OwO It means A LOT! :D_

_See you in next chapter (I hope)! :) Also; Feel free to ask/suggest anything you may like! I'll try to respond via e-mail, in addition to responding in the Author's Notes of the following chapter. :)  
_

_-Janni._

--

**Copyrights: **

Naruto, Sakura, Tsunade, Yamato and related characters + franchise © Masashi Kishimoto

Kita, Yuunai family, Kei, Iwahara, Sehomara and related characters © Janni Pedersen

--

**NOTES:**

**Italic only**_ indicates thoughts/thinking, which is not said out loud. __**Italic and bold**__ indicate words that are put extra stress on._

**Yajuu / Kumo no Yajuu****:**_ Monster/"The Kumo Monster"."Yajuu" is usually used for "beast monsters", like the tailed beasts (ie. Kyuubi)._

* * *

**Leaves and Lightnings.**

* * *

Chapter 9.

The fire. The screaming. The burning heat – it seemed so real as she was standing there, in the middle of the room, watching the shinobis wrestle her parents. She couldn't move – couldn't cry out. She saw one of the shinobi bring out a kunai – and at that point, she was finally able to scream, and set off, charging at the ninja – just to find out that she went right through him, as if he was… a ghost? No… such things didn't exist! Her eyes widened…

The blood splashed on her face as the shinobi swung the kunai – and once again, she screamed. A couple of arms then grabbed onto her shoulders – seemingly invisible arms – and she immediately started to struggle frantically, managing to get one arm out of the attacker's grip – enough to strike at him. Kick. Bite.

"Ow ow ow!! WHAT THE HELL?! You psychotic bi--"

The voice made her eyes snap open – and she found herself in a completely different room. On a futon on the floor. And with a orange-clad blond boy curled up in fetal position in front of her, holding his groin. Kita blanched.

_Oh hell…_

"S-sorry…"

Still, she couldn't help breathing out a silent sigh of relief… Just a nightmare. A bad one, but still just a nightmare.

Naruto glared at her from the floor, gradually stopping his writhing and grimacing.

"You're a real piece of work, y'know..!"

Kita's jaw muscles clenched – and she was about to respond when the thought hit her like a ten ton anvil.

What had happened. The sparring match between her and that black-haired boy. The chakra, taking over. And then – nothing. A black state of oblivion.

She just frowned a bit and averted her eyes, gritting her teeth a bit as she narrowed them.

_They saw it__… didn't they..?_

Naruto had an eyebrow raised, ready for her verbal beating – but as it didn't come, and she looked away instead – obviously uncomfortable – he made a face.

_GREAT! I'm not good with this stuff **at all**..! Why was I left alone with her..?!_

He rubbed his neck – but still managed a smile as he too looked away.

"Sakura-chan went to buy some groceries for her mother… she'll be back soon!" he grinned, broadly; "she'll be happy to see you're awake, y'know! You've been out for a day already."

Kita didn't respond – but her eyes focused on him once again. Yet, they appeared distant…

"I-I heard you're having Udon for dinner!" Naruto forced another grin, "I'm sure that's-"

"You." Kita's voice made him look up and face her; "You saw it."

She kept looking at him – with those distant eyes. And as he nodded, he had to look away. Kita looked down at her hands, her frown, returning. And the room suddenly seemed dark. Quiet. Almost hostile.

"I-it wasn't that bad, y'know…"

It was almost a whisper – and as Kita's head jerked up, he almost regretted that he had said it.

"Not that bad..?" Kita's voice was dry. But still, Naruto forced a small smirk.

"It's okay! Nothing a bit of chakra control can't handle, I'm sure!"

Kita stared at him – and suddenly, she gritted her teeth once again, punching the pillow – hard enough to make Naruto jump a bit.

"Not that bad?!" she hissed, her eyes suddenly wide with anger, "**_not that bad?!_** It got me chased out of my village! It frigging **_kill_**--" her voice trailed off before she could even finish the remark – she just kept staring at him like this for a few seconds - looking almost downright deranged. Then, swore under her breath and sat back down, looking away again. She kept her teeth gritted though; "that boy… the one who sparred with me…"

"Sai…?" Naruto blinked. Kita just nodded - squeezing her lips together for a second before she spoke again.

"Was he hurt..?"

"O-oh!" Naruto seemed almost relieved that she wasn't going to ask where he was so she could kill him or something; "not at all! He's fine! Not a scratch!"

"Ah…"

Then silence. For several seconds.

"He was a bastard if you ask me!" Naruto folded his arms as he broke the silence, grimacing, "he's a complete retard sometimes, y'know…"

Kita kept her frown – the empty look in her eyes. But she couldn't help noticing – he wasn't being hateful towards her. He wasn't acting like he considered her dangerous… he wasn't scared. Her frown deepened a bit as she finally looked at him.

"The Ikari..." she muttered, "it didn't scare you."

Naruto looked at her, puzzled at her sudden question - statement, rather. But after a moment, a smile spread on his face again. A smaller one – but this time, a genuine one.

"I guess it did... while it was going on at least, y'know..." he shrugged; "But that doesn't mean I have to be afraid now - does it?"

Kita arched an eyebrow slightly as she kept looking him over. Trying to assess whether he was serious or just joking around with her. Waiting for him to tell her that he had to go just to get away - and then, look at her with the eyes of almost everyone else who had encountered the Ikari. Fear. Hatred. Coldness.

But he didn't. She shook her head and let out a sigh.

"You're crazy…"

Naruto peered at her, darkly – but as he was about to return the insult, the door to the room opened, and they both looked up – meeting Sakura's eyes as she looked from one of them to the other, rather perplexed. But pink-haired girl then lit up into a smile.

"Kita-chan! You're awake! Good!" she shut the door behind her and kneeled down by Kita's side – but as she reached out to grab Kita's arm – to check her pulse – the purple-haired girl ripped her wrist out of the kunoichi's grip.

"**_THAT'S IT..!_**" she barked, glaring at both Naruto and Sakura as she all but jumped to her feet and backed away a bit. Looking like a trapped wild animal for a moment; "Why the hell are you acting like nothing happened here?! I just frigging went and probably attacked you guys, and you're all smiles and cheer?!" she grabbed the sides of her head, clenching her eyes shut for a moment, "what the hell are you?! What's **_wrong_** with you?!"

Both Sakura and Naruto blinked, looking quite perplexed. But sending each other a look, they seemed to turn serious. Neither of them got up to approach her though.

"You really think we haven't encountered something like this before..?" Sakura caught her glance – her voice was quiet, and she was smiling, gently; "jinchuurikis. Special chakra. People who cannot control their powers. You're not the only one who's met people like that..." Her smile grew a little; "should we be afraid of you? Hate you? For something you have no control over?" her smile turned somewhat wicked; "don't assume the worst, Kita-chan! You're nothing special!"

Kita all but gawked at her – her jaw dropping a little.

"I…I…"

"Sit down, idiot!"

Kita kept staring at her – still with her mouth open and a rather incredulous look on her face. But slowly, she obliged – her eyes, focusing on the floor as she finally sat down on the futon again, letting Sakura check her pulse this time around.

Still, she looked embarrassed. Frightened. Yet, Naruto couldn't help a slight smile.

_Well done, Sakura-chan…_

Sakura let out a sigh as she finished checking, finally half-smiling at the other girl.

"You're fine. Still a bit low on chakra, but just take it easy and it won't be an issue." Her smile then grew, transforming into a grin; "so let's go shopping!"

Naruto promptly made a face inwardly – spending the afternoon shopping with two girls wasn't his idea of a great mission. Even if it got him close to Sakura. But the slight smile remained.

He'd rather be shopping than trying to explain to Kita _**why**_ he wasn't afraid of her. That, normally, people were afraid of **_him_**.

Luckily, that awkward situation seemed to have been brought out of the way. At least for now…

Even if he knew that it would definitely arise later...

**xxx**

**xxx**

As the chuunin delivered the message, the relief on the Raikage's face was unmistakable. The second the messenger had left the office, the elderly man rubbed his face with a deep sigh, smiling wearily.

"I guess that's one political issue diverted, Raikage-sama…" one of the Elders spoke up from his tatami mat – still with a serious face as he caught eye contact with the kage; "but is it a good idea to let Konoha take over?"

"Iwahara was right…" the other Elder spoke up before the Raikage could respond; "If she hurts or even kills someone, they might still blame Kumogakure… this is not good for the political relationship between our villages, Raikage-sama…"

The Raikage looked them over – frowning slightly, he sighed again.

"Hokage-sama insisted that they would take full responsibility… I don't think we have anything to worry about." He rubbed his brow – obviously quite tired of this case; "of course, we'll still assist Konoha if they need our help. But they seem to have everything under control…" he then smiled; "I doubt we have to worry about it… Yuunai-san is in good hands, and everything is taken care of. Once Iwahara and Sehomara return, everything should be in order."

The two elders looked at one another – rather skeptically. But without a word, they simply bowed. Their meeting was over. And as they left the office, the Raikage leaned back in his chair and shut his eyes, still with a slight smile on his creased face. He was finally able to relax for the first time in what had felt like years.

What he didn't know was, that another letter had been sent to the Hokage in his name.

A letter that was sure to bring no small amount of trouble with it…

**xxx**

**xxx**

"Her parents' funeral..?" Tsunade stared at the letter, "that's kind of… sudden…"

Shizune put a tray with a cup of tea down in front of the Hokage, looking the letter over again.

"I suppose we can't keep her here and make her miss that…" she remarked, quietly, "but sending out a team to escort her--"

"Naruto and Sakura!" Tsunade stamped the letter with a grin; "next mission up for approval?"

Shizune stiffened, almost spilling the tea.

"You know you shouldn't just send Naruto-kun out of the village! Let alone with-"

She was cut off as Tsunade sent her a meaning glance.

"The girl is in no danger anymore! I can't see why not." The Hokage lowered her eyebrows, looking rather menacing – making Tonton cower behind the desk; "I'm sure Naruto would enjoy stretching his legs!"

"If no one breaks them…"

"What was that?!"

Shizune held up her hands and blanched, mustering a nervous grin.

"N-nothing, Tsunade-sama!" she bowed; "want me to get Sakura-san, Naruto-kun and Yuunai-san..?"

"If you would, please…" Tsunade kept glowering at her, grabbing her cup of tea; "geez, what is it with you and your party pooper attitude, Shizune?! Naruto hasn't been on a mission for months!"

Shizune just sighed, sagging her shoulders in defeat as she left the office after bowing politely. She did have a bad feeling about this – and not because of the newcomer in particular. The girl seemed friendly enough. But even though Tsunade kept claiming that no one was after her, there was still something about this mission that felt wrong…

And for once, maybe Tsunade should have listened to her assistant's complaints…

**xxx**

**xxx**

A purple t-shirt with a black Konoha insignia embroided on the chest and the trademark fishnet-armor underneath, covering down to the elbows. A pair of dark green three-quarter pants – and a scarf functioning as a belt. And two red bands to keep the newly made braid in place – and Kita didn't look one bit comfortable wearing these things, as the three walked down the street.

"I don't do purple..!" she muttered – she seemed like a small child as she sulked, with her arms folded and an almost humiliated frown on her face; "it's a girly color..!"

"It's better than pink…" Sakura rolled her eyes; "besides… aren't you a girl?"

"I've been wondering that too, y'know!" Naruto smirked – but was quickly forced to grin nervously instead as both Kita and Sakura glared at him, "alright!" he held up his hands, making a face; "It's… _**pretty**_… I guess…"

Kita groaned.

"I'm _**pretty**_ now..?!"

"That was a compliment!" It was Naruto's turn to glower; "you're--"

He was cut off as Sakura suddenly laughed – patting Kita on the back – or rather, hitting her so hard that she almost fell over forward, letting out a loud "OI!".

"You'll survive! You may have spent most of your life as a tomboy, but anything that can help you fit in here in Konoha is a huge plus! Trust me!" she kept her hand on Kita's shoulder; "that's why I'm paying! That way, you don't get a say!"

Kita raised her eyebrows for a moment. Before smacking her own face with both hands.

"I knew there was a catch…"

Sakura was about to respond. But she was cut off by a familiar voice, shouting out to them from behind;

"_**SAKURA-SAN! NARUTO-KUN!**_"

All three of them turned – just in time to almost get barged into by Shizune, who had obviously been running through most of the village streets to get to them, as she had to lean against a wall to catch her breath. Naruto and Sakura sent each other a look before turning their attention back to the Hokage's assistant.

"What's the rush?" Naruto smirked, "did Tsunade baa-chan gamble away the village's budget money? Or did she just drink till she passed out again?"

"N-not quite…" Shizune cringed. But then turned serious again; "she'd like to see you…" her eyes moved to Kita, "all three of you, actually…"

Naruto and Sakura stared at her for a moment, letting the message seep in. Kita just seemed lost.

"It's better if Tsunade-sama explains it to all of you…" the black-haired assistant smiled slightly; "please… follow me to the office."

Naruto and Sakura sent each other another look – then shrugged their shoulders. Sakura turned to Kita, managing to smile at the other girl.

"Let's go then, Kita."

Kita nodded, mustering a small smile as well as they started following the black-haired woman. But she couldn't help feeling kind of odd about this.

She hadn't met Shizune before – but when this woman looked at her, there was an obvious trace of something in her eyes. It wasn't fear or hatred. No. She was used to that.

It was more like an eerie feeling of pity. As if she was apologizing for her own presence and feelings towards the situation. And it felt wrong.

Alarming, rather…

**xxx**

**xxx**

"The Hokage has received the letter…"

Iwahara's mouth was immediately contorted in an almost insane looking smile, and the shinobi who was delivering the message involuntarily stepped back – looking rather timid.

"Good…" Iwahara narrowed his eyes – making him look even more deranged – and turned back to the fire he was sitting by, "you're dismissed! Tell Sehomara we're moving tonight!"

The messenger nodded and bowed deeply before walking off. And once he was gone, Iwahara's smile grew, as he looked at the shinobi, packing up the camp out of the corner of his eyes. They'd be ready to move in position soon. The _yajuu_ would leave Konoha and the fire country… and then…

Then…

His smile turned into a grin – looking even more crazed and erratic than previously. The fire crackled loudly and flared up as if even it wanted to defend itself from this man.

Then, they would make their move…

Finally…

**xxx**

**xxx**

Their funeral. _**Her parents'**_ funeral. She still couldn't comprehend it. But still, she refused to react, even as Naruto and Sakura sent her discrete looks – as if they expected her to break down and cry at the mere mentioning of her parents. And as she didn't, Tsunade appeared almost confused.

There was no reaction whatsoever. Kita kept her eyes locked onto the floor. The only noticeable change in her expression was a slight furrowed brow – almost a frown, but not quite – as Tsunade mentioned the funeral. And at Naruto and Sakura's reaction, the Hokage quickly realized that Kita hadn't even told the two that her parents were killed just days before. The woman quickly averted her attention back to the paper in front of her and cleared her throat.

"I called Naruto and Sakura here so they can be your escorts… they'll lead you to Kumogakure and attend the ceremony with you – and you will then return to Konoha…" she looked up – mainly at Naruto and Sakura as Kita still appeared quite unresponsive; "any questions?"

Sakura met her teacher's glance – appearing right as confused as her, too.

"Does the letter say anything about any possibility of staying in Kumogakure..?" she asked, quietly, glancing briefly at Kita, "I mean… it's kind of-"

"Weird." Naruto made even Kita flinch a bit at his interruption. He simply narrowed his eyes in contemplation as Tsunade all but glared at him; "first, they chase her out – then, practically beg us to keep her. And now, they invite her to come attend this funeral in the very same village they tossed her out of?!" he groused; "what's with the sudden change of mind?"

Sakura didn't bother sending her team mate a glower – she turned her attention back to Tsunade, waiting for her to answer the question. And the blonde woman let out a sigh, rubbing her face.

"I think we should just stop trying to understand this village…" she muttered, folding her arms behind her head as she sat back in a chair – and then, let up into a smile; "but I'm sending you two with Yuunai, so there's nothing to worry about, is there?" she looked the two shinobis over; "naturally, you'll get paid. Consider it a D rank mission. You leave tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow..?"

Kita's voice made all of them revert their attention to her. She, however, kept her eyes on the Hokage, with a bewildered look on her face. But as she realized they were all looking at her, she returned to staring at the floor with the small frown on her face.

"It's just… soon…"

Her voice was barely audible. But Tsunade caught every word, and a small smile appeared on the Hokage's face.

"Kumo is three days away by foot when you take the right route. The funeral is in six," she kept looking at Kita – suddenly not as threatening and violent as usual; "I know it's not that easy. But I think it'd be a good idea for you to at least get to say goodbye. Both to your parents and your village."

Kita just nodded. She didn't respond. And even Naruto and Sakura remained quiet. Tsunade sighed and rearranged the papers a little – still with a small smile on her face.

"When you return, I will have an apartment ready for Yuunai-san. She can stay for as long as she desires."

Naruto, Sakura and Kita all seemed to flinch – and then blink. And though Naruto lit up into a grin, Kita and Sakura both seemed kind of perplexed – Kita, almost shell-shocked. Until Naruto hit her over the back and almost made her fall over.

"I told you we'd figure it out!"

Sakura all but bristled, grabbing him by the ear.

"Not now..!" she hissed; "she-"

"Thank you."

The pink-haired kunoichi froze as she was cut off by Kita's voice – and Naruto immediately stopped struggling to save his ear from her grip. Both of them turned to Kita who was looking at Tsunade. And suddenly mustered a smile - a very small, tired and prone one – but a genuine one at least – and bowed. Not very deeply. But as much as her pride would let her.

"I appreciate it. Really."

Tsunade seemed downright puzzled. But after a few seconds, she too managed to smile.

"It's fine…" she nodded to the purple-haired girl, in response to her small bow; "just do your best… and you three take care!"

Naruto and the two others nodded – the blond boy, with a huge, confident smirk on his face, and Sakura, with a gentler smile as she put a hand on Kita's shoulder and they all walked out of the office.

Kita's smile was gone however. She knew that the questions would be starting now. The harder questions.

But they didn't worry her.

At least, not as much as the suspicion that this invitation wasn't so friendly as it was trying to appear…

* * *

**End of chapter 09.**

* * *


	10. Chapter 10: Plans

**Author's Notes:**

_This gave me so much trouble it's not even funny. XD I think I deleted and rewrote it about five times, and I still don't really like it.__ Hm, must be the change in pain meds, hahaha!_

_A few people have mailed me, asking for a picture of Kita. I sent them one, but in case the rest of you would like to see too, I'll include a few links to some pictures (copy and paste into your browser's address bar and delete spaces) :_

**_nick-ian. deviantart. com/art/For-Janni-chan-96876553_**

**_janni-chan. deviantart. com/art/Size-Matters-XD-93426432_**_ -- this is basically a timeline illustration - in the middle, she's aged 17-20, like she is in this story (where she's 18) – also, she's wearing the clothes described in the previous chapter. :) _

_Either way, I managed to get to the end after all! YAY FOR ME! And I'll hopefully be able to start writing the battle in next chapter. That would be nice. 8D I miss writing action. However, I apologize in advance if I make Sakura seem a bit pathetic or weak during the upcoming battle – it's not my intention, and I actually like her a lot. She's definitely on my top five favorite characters list, so it's not because I hate her – heck, she still ends up being better than Kita, so I guess it's fine. :P _

_Sorry for the wait! And even though I hate this thing, I hope you readers enjoy it at least! Feel free to give me any criticism (positive or negative – as long as the negative is also constructive XD) you may have! :)_

_-Janni._

--

**Copyrights: **

Naruto, Sakura, Tsunade, Yamato and related characters + franchise © Masashi Kishimoto

Kita, Yuunai family, Kei, Iwahara, Sehomara and related characters © Janni Pedersen

--

**NOTES:**

**Italic only**_ indicates thoughts/thinking, which is not said out loud. __**Italic and bold**__ indicate words that are put extra stress on._

**Ryou: **_This is the currency used in the Naruto world. In Japan, Ryou were used as a currency too back in pre-Meiji era Japan, and one Ryou (a gold coin) equaled about 100 US dollars in today's money, but I doubt that's the case with the Ryou used in the Naruto universe – so just assume it's about the same as the US dollar. :) (150.000 USD about 102.450 Euro)._

* * *

**Leaves and Lightnings.**

* * *

Chapter 10.

The camp-fire's gentle crackling and the occasional sound from Kei seemed to be the only things interrupting the otherwise complete silence.

They had gotten pretty far – they'd soon be crossing the border and be out of the fire country. They probably could've walked further – even though Kita wasn't a ninja, she was travelling by horseback and wouldn't run out of stamina too fast, and Naruto and Sakura were used to walking long distances without any breaks, and nothing but soldier pills to eat. But as the sun set, they had decided to camp near a small stream. Naruto had caught some fish, and Kita and Sakura set up the tents as well as finding firewood and making the fire to cook the food – it would probably be the best meal they would get until reaching the Country of Lightning. The remaining meals would mainly consist of soldier pills.

Still, the tense silence made it hard to thoroughly enjoy the food. Kita had barely said a word since they left the Hokage office the previous day – and though she didn't seem downright hostile, she was hard to get through to. Naruto and Sakura had let her be – they knew that this wasn't the easiest of times for the girl, and respected her rather obvious wish to be left alone.

But even now – more than 24 hours later – she still seemed reticent. Pensively looking into the fire, at nothing at all, after finishing very little of her meal. The rest of the fish, rice and vegetables remained untouched on her plate.

Once Sakura had finished eating, her plate was all but snatched from her as Naruto got to his feet.

"I'll go do the dishes!" he grinned – but then grimaced, leaning down a little to whisper to his team mate; "please, talk to her! She's a zombie! I can't do an entire week like this, y'know!"

Sakura just nodded, looking somewhat puzzled as Naruto turned and left to walk down to the stream – apparently too uncomfortable with Kita's current state to take _**her**_ plate. Sakura couldn't help smirking a bit by that fact.

_Chicken…_

But she quickly turned serious – and her smile withered as she looked up at Kita, observing the purple-haired girl in silence for several seconds. And not even getting eye contact.

She took a deep breath.

"So what happened? To your parents…"

Kita finally reacted. At Sakura's words, she flinched – and she looked nothing short of petrified as she slowly lifted her head and met Sakura's eyes – resembling a wild, trapped animal that just wanted to run, but was still prepared to attack. And Sakura knew she had hit the right spot.

"Is that what you're so afraid we're going to ask?" she lifted an eyebrow slightly; "or are you afraid we're going to think badly of you? Because then, you're pretty thick."

Kita kept staring at her, still looking aghast. But after a few seconds, she averted her eyes to the ground, with a slight hint of a frown on her face. She still didn't answer though.

Sakura sighed heavily, shutting her eyes for a moment. It confused her – Kita didn't seem depressed. At least, not as much as she seemed embarrassed and frightened. But over what?

"You killed them?"

Sakura jumped a bit as the voice came from behind, almost falling off the log she was sitting on – as she turned her head, Naruto was standing behind her – only about a foot or so away. Obviously having left the dishes to eavesdrop.

Whatever the reason, it didn't matter – the reaction was immediate. Kita promptly lifted her head, her eyes, wide in horror. But before Sakura could even say anything to Naruto about his remark, Kita all but leapt to her feet, charged and started beating away at him – and as if Naruto had expected that very reaction, he simply grabbed her by the wrists. Though, not before she had managed to slap him across the face, leaving a red mark on his striped cheek. Despite this, he still did not move an inch.

"K-Kita..!" Sakura got to her feet instantly, grabbing onto Kita as well – the purple-haired girl looked downright ferocious, fighting the grip of the two shinobi as if her life depended on it. Naruto however seemed calm. He was just looking at her, without a single trace of surprise or fear – or judgment.

"I didn't kill them!" Kita snapped, loud enough to make Sakura flinch; she glared at Naruto, with her teeth clenched together and an almost wild look in her eyes; "you sick piece of -"

"What the hell are you so guilty about then?!" Naruto suddenly barked, frowning as he narrowed his eyes; "Sakura-chan worries! I worry! And you just act like we're nothing but air! D'you really think you can just ignore us if we know something is up?! We're not stupid!"

He finally let go of her. But instead of charging again, Kita just stood there, staring at him – barely even noticing that Sakura was still holding onto her, also staring at Naruto. Her rage had been replaced by a dumbfounded, bewildered look.

"We're here to protect you and we don't even know from what, y'know!" Naruto gritted his teeth, still peering at her, darkly; "we're not asking for anything in return! But Sakura-chan is right – you just expect us to think badly of you! That's an insult!" he snorted, folding his arms; "Even for an idiot like you, I'd have thought that we've done enough to prove that that won't happen by now, and you're still acting like we think you eat babies..!"

Kita kept staring at him as if he had just sprouted a second head. But once he was done talking and just kept standing there, she looked down again – not even reacting as Sakura let go of her as well.

"If you leave someone to die, you could as well have killed them with your own hands… you're no less of a killer…" her voice was quiet – and her eyes remained fastened to the ground as she once again clenched her teeth together, so hard that they grinded audibly; "I left them!" she lifted her head with a jerk, scowling at Naruto again – looking almost deranged as she suddenly laughed, shaking her head rapidly. But despite the laugh, she looked far from happy… "they were attacked – the house was burning, and I ran! I heard my mother _**scream! **_And I kept running!" she was almost hyperventilating by now; her eyes were wide, and her mouth was in a grimace that could've been a smile but really was not; "you're trying to save me, and you're mad at me for feeling like you shouldn't?! You don't even know what you're trying to save, you persistent asshole! I _**am**_ a murderer! The kind that runs to save my own sorry ass while my own parents are getting killed for something I did! So don't you dare tell me that I shouldn't feel like I do!"

Naruto didn't even flinch as she yelled at him. His expression didn't soften and he didn't break the eye contact.

"Do you really think your parents would've felt better if you stayed and let them kill you?" he adjured, calmly; "the only people you would've made happy with that are the bastards that killed your parents!" he narrowed his eyes even more; "if your parents didn't want you to live, they wouldn't have fought, would they?! So the least you can do is honor their wish and stop your whining! They told you to run, didn't they?!"

Kita promptly froze – her eyes grew wider as she gaped at him - too astonished to be angry. She didn't even realize that Naruto turned around and started walking away.

They did. Her parents _**did**_ yell at her to run. But…

"H-how did you…" her voice trailed off into silence – it was barely audible in the first place. But Naruto stopped.

"I _**didn't**_ know." he turned his head a little, looking at her over his own shoulder with a slight smirk; "but you're the kind of blockhead who wouldn't have run if they hadn't told you to."

He turned away again and resumed walking. And Kita kept staring in his direction, even when he had walked out of view.

Sakura observed her, quietly. Even as the green-eyed girl's frown returned and she looked away again, something had changed. Something that told the kunoichi that Naruto was right. That even though Kita didn't want to admit it – even to herself - she believed him. Felt different.

"I'm going to bed…"

Sakura's train of thoughts was cut off by Kita's voice, and the kunoichi blinked and looked up; Kita was already getting to her feet and started walking towards the tents.

"W-wait..!"

Sakura had said the word before she even got to think – and she looked somewhat flustered as Kita stopped. But she didn't turn to look the kunoichi. She simply waited for her to continue speaking.

"H-he didn't mean it so bad…" Sakura managed, smiling awkwardly after letting out a nervous laugh; "he never really thinks about what he says, and it sometimes comes out pretty--"

"He was right, though… I guess…"

Sakura stiffened at Kita's mutter. Even more so as the female looked back at her with a small – almost non-existent – half-smile;

"I'm sorry. For making you worry. You don't need to."

Without another word, she started walking again; leaving Sakura rather flabbergasted. But once Kita was gone, the kunoichi shook her head a bit, as if to shake off the surprise – and let out a heavy, exhausted sigh.

_How the hell do you do it, Naruto?!_

She trudged over to the log by the fire and sat down again, looking in Naruto's direction out of the corner of her eye before glancing towards the tent Kita had crawled into. With a slight smile that only grew when she heard a sudden crash, followed by shouting of profanities from Naruto as he apparently dropped the plates, cups and cutlery.

Really, it didn't matter; how he did what he did. He was capable of changing people's feelings – changing their _**lives**_. To change the world.

And to achieve whatever he wanted, just by being who he was.

And fact of the matter was that he probably didn't even realize it himself.

**xxx**

**xxx**

Only a small flicker of light was seen as the two figures arrived at the camp – one of them, freakishly tall, and the other, quite small – but their arrival didn't go unnoticed. Their chakra told everyone in the area of their presence. And almost immediately, they were met by another figure that got up from a position near one of the tents.

"The Yarada brothers, I presume?"

"You presume correctly." A dark voice, belonging to the taller male responded, as the two stepped out into the light of a nearby campfire, "you Iwahara?"

While it wasn't that easy to see before, the fact that these two were brothers was now quite obvious – they were pale, covered in scars that seemed darker against their skin. Both of them had white hair and crimson eyes – with a cold-blooded look, ridden of anything that resembled emotions – or sanity for that matter. But the shorter one – also a male, about five feet tall – was the truly minacious one. One whose chakra seemed to force the entire forest into a state of fearful silence. He remained quiet, however.

"Indeed." Iwahara responded, bowing slightly as he approached the two of them; "I appreciate-"

"Save the small talk for later, Iwahara-san." The shorter brother broke in – his voice seemed as cold and emotionless as his demeanor – so much so that Iwahara visibly stiffened for a moment; "what are we here for?"

"Ah, of course, I was getting right to that…" Iwahara quickly bowed again. His voice was already trembling slightly; "we have had some problems with someone…" he reached into his bag and pulled out a few sheets of paper, which he handed to the larger sibling; "we want her exposed of… annihilated…"

The taller Yarada looked the papers over - and suddenly roared out a laugh.

"You want us to hunt down a teenage girl?!" he held up the paper for Iwahara to see, "is this a joke?!"

"N-no…" Iwahara stepped back, obviously apprehensive; "I-"

"Did she turn down a date with you or something?! She must've really pissed you off if-"

"Takeda." The other sibling held up a hand, immediately silencing his taller brother – still looking at Iwahara as he spoke; "you offered us 150.000 Ryou. Why so much for a petty civilian? A female teenager, nonetheless."

Iwahara cleared his throat, nervously.

"She's being protected by Konoha shinobi…" he looked away; "my partner and I will take care of the girl, naturally… you won't need to bother with her."

The taller brother – Takeda – laughed again.

"Do all you Kumo-freaks get so frustrated over getting dumped or is it just--"

"We're professionals, Takeda…" Tetsuo – the shorter one – didn't even turn to look at his brother; "it's not any of our business. Keep your speculations to yourself and stick to the mission."

Takeda just nodded, quickly. His smug grin was long gone and the fact that he had a lot of respect – and a certain amount of fear - for his brother was quite evident.

"Well, then." Tetsuo spoke up, making Iwahara flinch again, "I suppose you have a plan…." He sat down, in a cross-legged position – unstrapping and unsheathing a sword from a sheath hanging from his shoulder, on his back. A double-edged sword that appeared to be about as tall as he was – shaped like a Chinese serpent-like dragon, with a protruding tongue that formed its own blade at the end – its tail, forming the handle. And as the Yarada grinned, his teeth and red eyes flashed in the light of the fire, reflected by the blade of the massive sword.

"Let's get this train rolling, then, Iwahara-san! You seem to be quite eager to!"

**xxx**

**xxx**

"Hokage-sama has received the invitation, Raikage-sama… Yuunai-san is leaving today, accompanied by two chuunins."

The chuunin messenger – recently arrived from Konoha after being sent off the previous day to tell the Raikage of the acceptance of the invitation to the funeral – saluted as he finished his message. The Raikage stared at him for a while, obviously a bit perplexed.

"Invitation..?"

The chuunin blinked in confusion at the Raikage's question.

"The invitation to the funeral ceremony held for Yuunai-san's parents, Raikage-sama…" he checked the scroll in his hands, "it says here it'll be held in five days…"

The Raikage furrowed his brow.

"This has to be a misunderstanding…" the confusion was obvious on his aged face; "Yuunai Tasou and Ayako were buried the day after the incident… that's four days ago!"

The black-haired shinobi boy looked from the kage to the scroll, awkwardly – then, held the scroll out towards the Raikage with both hands.

"We received this from you, sir…"

The elderly man accepted the scroll, concentrating as he looked it through. Then, reread it. And reread it again.

"This doesn't make any sense…" he muttered quietly, squinting a bit as he looked at the seal – it was indeed the Kumogakure seal. The one he stamped onto every letter he sent out… but something was wrong here – he had never even seen this letter, let alone written it! And it wasn't his handwriting either.

_Who would want Yuunai to come back here..?_

He put down the scroll, frowning deeply in thought. Then, stiffened.

His eyes grew wide with the realization; maybe it wasn't a question of getting the girl back into Kumogakure…

Maybe it was an attempt to get her _**out**_ of Konohagakure. Out into open, unprotected territory.

He looked up at the chuunin again, obviously shaken.

"Please tell Hokage-sama to send out someone to retrieve Yuunai and the shinobi with her." His voice was calm however – he forced it to be; "I never sent out this invitation. Someone wanted her out of your village."

The chuunin was obviously bewildered.

"But Raikage-sama--"

"_**Now!**_" The man's voice was suddenly loud as he interrupted the shinobi in front of him, punching the desk so hard the young ninja clearly flinched; "someone might very well be attacking them right now – go!"

The boy had barely nodded and saluted before he was gone with a quick "yessir!" – and the second he had disappeared, the Raikage got to his feet, hurrying out of the office. His face was dark with rage as he hurried down the hallway.

_Iwahara__..!_

He paced up. It really couldn't be anyone other than the blacksmith… people had wanted to do something about Yuunai Kita for a while – but no one had been as eager as this man. No one had been so determined to annihilate what he saw as a threat.

Gritting his teeth, the kage all but kicked a door open, barging into the room – making several jounins who were sitting around a table look up, rather startled.

"Anyone without a mission today is hereby ordered to report to me within an hour! You'll be heading out before nightfall!" his voice was shaking, and he narrowed his eyes as he looked each of the jounins over; "prepare as soon as you have the time to do so. We have a criminal on our hands… guilty of treason and double murder!"

**xxx**

**xxx**

The two albino brothers were quiet for a long while. Silent. Both of them, focusing on Iwahara – as if to determine if the plan – and money – was worth the hassle.

"So…" Tetsuo finally spoke up, making Iwahara jump slightly; "you want us to focus on the medical kunoichi…"

"Yes…" Iwahara fought to keep his voice calm – but a slight tremble was still audible; "my accomplice and me will focus on the girl and the other shinobi…"

"And once the kunoichi is dealt with?" Takeda raised an eyebrow; "you're not expecting us to have trouble with a wench like that, are you?"

"O-of course not..!" the blacksmith laughed nervously, looking like he'd rather get up and run off than stay and discuss the plan; "should you wish to do so, you can help my accomplice with the other shinobi… but he wishes to kill the boy himself…"

"I assume you want the Kumo-chick to yourself then…" Takeda barked out a laugh; "good luck! Girls are dirty as hell when they fight!"

Tetsuo didn't bother scolding his brother this time around. He simply frowned a bit, peering at Iwahara for several seconds, in silence. Then, got to his feet.

"Deal." He turned, and started walking away, "we'll go to our assigned positions. Once you give us the sign, we'll be ready to attack." He stopped for a moment, looking Iwahara right in the eyes, over his own shoulder; "just don't get in our way. That would get ugly as hell." He started walking again; "let's go, Takeda."

Takeda immediately stood up, nodding slightly before he faced Iwahara.

"You'd better listen to him…" he smirked; "Tetsuo isn't a person you can just stop once he's started attacking – it wouldn't be the first time someone ended up dead because they didn't mind their own business and got in his path." He started following his brother, not looking back for a second; "it's certainly interesting though! I gotta give you that!"

Before Iwahara could even respond, the brothers were gone – their chakra, untraceable. And despite the threat, Iwahara couldn't help letting out a heavy sigh of relief that they had left. Their mere presence had been suffocating.

The plan had been set in motion – they would be attacking in approximately 48 hours. The end, regardless of how it would turn out, was near… A grin spread on his face as he got up and started walking towards his tent.. Everything seemed to point towards the end _**he**_ wanted. An end where they would finally be rid of a disaster waiting to happen – someone who possessed the ability to become a huge military asset – and a threat to the village he was loyal to - if she wasn't exposed of…

Of course, he had no idea that it was about to become so much more than just a battle between six people – that he himself now had a price on his head.

Takeda was more right than he thought. It was definitely going to be interesting – more interesting than anyone had bargained for…

* * *

**End of chapter 10.**

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